Break out of gender limitations

1/4/2012

Break out of gender limitations

When my husband and I were selling a piece of family property in Italy a number of years ago, we were taken aback by the resistance we encountered because I had an equal voice in making business decisions. In that region of the country, business dealings were mostly left to husbands, fathers and older male children. Socially, women subserved the interests of men. When I discerned an attempt to grossly undervalue the fair market price of the property in question, I spoke up about it. My participation was not appreciated by the businessmen with whom we were dealing. I was intimidated and became angry.

Things went haywire after that. Not only were we dealing with dishonesty in the deal, but then came a sudden and unpredictable bank strike, unseasonable rains with torrential flooding, and difficulties with communicating in Italian.

Adding to that, I became seriously ill with an abscessed tooth and ear infection that left me unable to hear, eat or to lift my head off my pillow. I was more afraid of going to an Italian dentist in this tiny town than I was of the problem, so I waited it out. After three days in this terrible state, my condition got suddenly worse. It felt like it was too much to even think, let alone to pray. I was tempted to pass out of consciousness, lulled by the thought, "Just be quiet and go to sleep."

Then I realized that in this culture, that was exactly what women were supposed to do - be quiet and stay out of the way.

Something deep in me rebelled. So rather than yield to passing out, I finally prayed. I refused to accept that my right to think and express myself could be taken from me. This prayer was a strong protest of the truth that I was God's intelligent, conscious idea - having all the rights and privileges and authority, as His child, to speak - and that I could not be limited by mortal gender stereotyping.

My last thought before falling asleep was, "Nothing can rob me of my rights of mind as Mind's idea." Then I was out like a light. It was the first time I had slept in three days. When I awakened an hour or so later, I was completely well, strong, and free of pain. Not even a minute of recuperation of strength was required.

In addition, the other blocks to progress moved off. With this newfound spiritual authority, I had a confidence in my ability to speak up and let my thoughts be heard - even in Italian.

As we proceeded with the deal, there was a change in the attitude and improvement in the behavior of those with whom we were dealing. It seemed to me that the shift that occurred during that prayer had an effect on the people and events around me.

The sale went through, at a fair price, during a one-hour break between two-strikes. The flooding dissipated in time to close the deal in a part of town entirely cut off by water hours before. And in the end, all parties were happy.

Looking back, it looked almost like a Moses-up-against-the-Red-Sea experience. The waves parted and the resistance to the business deal, in all its forms, was swallowed up. But my take-away from all these crazy events is the power of a simple prayer to take a stand for ones right and ability to express God-given dominion regardless of what limitations may be imposed. I wasn't the only one blessed. Everyone - from the businessmen to the bank to the community - was touched by that prayer.

The Scriptures reveal the essence of manhood and womanhood - the male and female of God's creating - to be entirely spiritual. ( See Genesis, chapter 1) The true individuality of each of us is the image and likeness of Spirit, the pure, undeviating and complete reflection of God, good, and this individuality includes dominion over limitation in all forms. Everyday gives opportunities to prove this fact in small and great ways.

Gender-based stereotypes are rooted in the concept that man is a mortal personality, divided up and compartmentalized by inherent strengths and weaknesses. (See Genesis, Chapter 2-3)

But this Adam/Eve dysfunctional sense of creation is way off-base. Men and women are actually designed to strengthen, bless and support one another.

Let's toss gender bias out on it's ear. And let's do it through a spiritual understanding of what true manhood and womanhood is. Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures emphasizes the spiritual fact that, "Man and woman as coexistent and eternal with God forever reflect, in glorified quality, the infinite Father-Mother God." (p.516)

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John Adams

1/4/2012 01:51:16 am

Isn't God incredible!? He can make mild conditions go away that typically improve thanks to our evolved immune system, while letting you sell property at fair market value.
I guess he's still trying to figure out how to stop 6 million children from dying of starvation every year, but I guess they're just not thinking as clearly as you are.
Keep up the wonderful work!

Michelle Nanouche link

1/4/2012 02:40:15 am

Yes, John, the world needs our prayers. I have to be grateful for each small example of grace, but the beauty in each healing isn't the thing changed or healed. That is small potatoes compared to the glimpse of God as Spirit and man as spiritual. Until the world embraces the basis truth of spiritual being, its problems will still seem overwhelming. But i sincerely believe that every prayer that wakes even one person up to spiritual being and the liberty of being Spirit-created and maintained sends a powerful ripple of good into the world. Thanks for reading, and an even bigger thanks for sharing your reaction.

John Adams

1/4/2012 03:24:29 am

Well the questions I raise are more foundational, systemic, that require a step back and asking yourself if maybe you've framed too much of your worldview from a single source that makes claims of knowledge based on revelation, authority and special pleading (from a time period ignorant of all the scientific advances of the last century), rather than falsifiable tentative claims based on overwhelming converging peer-reviewed evidence, and mechanisms for making sure we don't deceive ourselves with wishful thinking or delusion or confirmation bias.
Why can we only glimpse God through prayer? Why this veil of tears, this mortal mind, if God is all creative and all present? Even if you'd like to claim suffering is only a suggestion, with the premises of CS, the "suggestion" could not even be able to present itself in the universe CS describes. The cognitive dissonance for reconciling these mutually exclusive claims (perfection while progressing) should be more unsettling to it's adherents than it is.
But you can't be unsettled if you think you've found the rock of truth, insulating and reinforcing prejudices and always reversing doubts back to a renewed and strengthened faith.
This isn't to say that Christian Scientists aren't wonderful people, it's just their current system of belief ignores much of reality, and too often at the expense of child endangerment from a lack of immunization or health care for wholly treatable conditions.
When Mary Baker Eddy discovered Christian Science, the smallpox infection rate was unchanged, same with polio, whopping cough, and so many plagues that have slowly and painfully claimed the lives of millions. But as soon as real science introduces a vaccine, based on our understanding of germs and the human body, the rates plummet.
The "proofs" that Christian Scientists use to validate their own beliefs are always anecdotal and of the same variety that are found to "validate" every New Age and alternative medicine practice. Correlation is not causation. Science winnows out causal links and axiomatic truths by removing bias, or selective memory, or trying our best to prove our desires. Science is the best tool we've ever devised for understanding ourselves and our universe, empowering us to create technologies, explore the planets, and save the lives of billions through medicine, modern agriculture, engineering.
I implore you and your audience to consider the possibility that Christian Science may be one of the myriad other psuedosciences created in the infancy of our understanding of our true origins and place in the cosmos.

Michelle Nanouche link

1/4/2012 02:51:36 am

Hey blog readers,

For those of you whose interest is peaked by John's comment, as I was responding on my iphone in tge train, an email came in with a link to a colleague's blog post for today.

Evan Mellenbacher has some helpful ideas to share at http://gethealed.blogspot.com/2012/01/are-you-aiming-for-right-goal.html?m=1

His subject today is on aiming at the right goal when we pray.

Kathleen

1/4/2012 06:47:05 am

Michelle, as a resident of Mexico, where gender bias can be an accepted part of the norm, I am grateful to be able to claim my equality in God's eyes, knowing all His children are equal under spiritual law, the only true law.

I am also grateful for numerous physical healings, some instantaneous, including one that had plagued me for decades, another that had been diagnosed as incurable unless I had surgery. I could not imagine my life without the healing teachings of Christian Science.

These beautiful teachings are not given to us without effort on our part. We have lessons to learn, but when we persist with patience and expectation, the veil is indeed lifted.

Michelle Nanouche link

1/4/2012 08:06:24 am

Hi Kathleen,

As always, your comment is appreciated.

Michelle Nanouche link

1/4/2012 07:29:36 am

(The response above was written before John's second longer comment. This one is in response to his second comment. Sorry that the thread may be a little difficult to follow. You can just check the time of the comments to read them in order.)

I see a bunch of good subjects for future posts in your questions here, John. I appreciate the reason and sincerity with which you pose them.

I will leave the questions regarding spiritual/material worldview, prayer as effective/ineffective and Christian Science as relevant or outdated, unscientific, or even dangerous, to future posts.

On your last point about anecdotal evidence, I would say that that’s what human experience is – one long anecdote. We each are seeing, learning, growing from our own unique perspectives and experiences. And what would constitute proof and authority to one, clearly would not be considered acceptable evidence to another.

Personally, I am excited by what the physical sciences discover and develop, enabling us to see and understand the universe and what is and isn’t governing it. But as to whether a material cause or spiritual cause is at its base, and to the question of whether material phenomena or spiritual phenomena is the more trustworthy, I think we could get into a circular argument that is about as productive as the question of the chick or egg and which came first.

So, I will leave the discussion at that. And I do hope you will check back in for future postss that will take up some of your other questions.

Kim

1/4/2012 08:35:36 am

Michelle. Being new to CS I too struggle with some of the stuff that John brings up and would love to hear further thoughts on it. That said - what you wrote above (4:40 a.m.) - "[t]hat is small potatoes compared to the glimpse of God as Spirit and man as spiritual", puts it all back into perspective. Your statement is powerful and, in a nutshell, comprises what attracted me to CS in the first place. Thank you - I will carry that thought with me today and beyond.

carrie

1/4/2012 10:17:51 am

I don't mean to derail this discussion, but "real science" is not nearly so perfectly rational as described above. Any history of science course show that. The development of new paradigms is a messy business ... I saved the following link because I find it fascinating ... http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/09/lanza-theories-physics-biotech-oped-cx_mh_0309lanza.html

Michelle Nanouche link

1/4/2012 10:29:20 am

Interesting link, Carrie. Robert Lanza, the scientific director of Advanced Cell Technology in Worcester, MA, is putting forward a new theory of the universe. The article states, "At its most basic, his idea is that much of what physics has observed is not actually physical, but a creation of the mind. The world, as we perceive it, is real to us, but we are actually sensing an underlying informational framework."

The article goes at his theory from supporter and dissenter sides.

Thanks for sharing! I am sure some will want to check it out!

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