International Woman's Day - Rising to the "altitude of true womanhood" revisited

Spiritual resource to share: true womanhood

When the Christian Science movement was very young in the mid 1800's, women had few rights, including lacking the right to vote. In addition, it was considered out of place for a woman to address congregations, much less start whole movements, write books and lecture. Nonetheless, this was the atmosphere in which Christian Science got a foothold.

One of my favorite stories of this early time was an incident in which Mary Baker Eddy had enlisted a number of her students, both men and women, to become lecturers. One of them, Annie Knott, had her doubts if she would ever be called upon, believing that people preferred to have a man lecture for them. She went to Mrs. Eddy with this concern who immediately and thoroughly turned down that argument. She said to Annie Knott,

"You must rise to the altitude of true womanhood, and then the whole world will want you...."*

To me, that comment is a call for all time.

In Science and Health, Eddy writes, "the union of the masculine and feminine qualities constitute completeness." I remember coupling that with an idea read from a book Footsteps of Israel that said one can gauge a nation's progress by the status of their women.

Rising to the altitude of true womanhood, we complete the expression of our full humanity. We get a clearer idea of God, who is the basis of our being. Again, from Eddy,

"In divine Science, we have not as much authority for considering God masculine, as we have for considering Him feminine, for Love imparts the clearest idea of Deity."

This is what brings full fledged progress to our individual lives and to our nations and our world.

As International Woman's Day is celebrated all over the world, I am so encouraged to see that more women's voices are being heard through protests, marches, songs and celebrations and through quiet prayer, affirmations and daily deeds. Hidden issues are coming to the surface, milestones are being celebrated and young men and women are growing into a world demanding a complete humanity where both masculine and feminine thought are honored.



from Canada, China, Turkey, Brazil and Afghanistan - pictures from the International Women's Day site

Happy International Women's Day!

*from the book We Knew Mary Baker Eddy p. 82 Christian Science Publishing Society

post first written March 8, 2007

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International Women's Day

Spiritual resource to share: woman

women celebrating International Women's Day in Iran

2008 IWD EVENTS

"The thing I loved about the movie Juno was to see how absolutely confident and outspoken Juno was. It was a surprise to me that girls could be like that." commented my friend Zhongli. Her upbringing in China was far from anything that Juno's story told. But in her country, technological advances and a booming economy are pressing toward rapid social changes. And the changes have a direct and empowering impact on women.

And so it is with activity throughout the world. "Each year on 8 March, hundreds of International Women's Day events occur all around the world. IWD events range from small random informal gatherings to large-scale highly organised events. All celebrate women's advancement and highlight the need for continued vigilance and action."




International Women's Day started in 1908, the same year Mary Baker Eddy started The Christian Science Monitor as a way to uplift the standard of journalism with the mission to "injure no man but to bless all mankind." In fact, blessing all mankind was a driving force for so much of what Mary Baker Eddy accomplished.


Her book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures is full of compact and revelatory ideas that are still edgy today. Edgy and true. She starts out her chapter on "Science of Being" with a thought-provoking paragraph:

In the material world, thought has brought to light with great rapidity many useful wonders. With like activity have thought's swift pinions been rising towards the realm of the real, to the spiritual cause of those lower things which give impulse to inquiry. Belief in a material basis, from which may be deduced all rationality, is slowly yielding to the idea of a metaphysical basis, looking away from matter to Mind as the cause of every effect. Materialistic hypotheses challenge metaphysics to meet in final combat. In this revolutionary period, like the shepherd-boy with his sling, woman goes forth to battle with Goliath.

Now Mary Baker Eddy is a hard person to categorize, and she does not easily fall into the category as a feminist. But I have read this, understanding that her idea of woman is defined spiritually, not anatomically. As she says in her book Unity of Good (p. 51) : "Man is the generic term for all humanity. Woman is the highest species of man, and this word is the generic term for all women; but not one of all these individualities is an Eve or an Adam."

So today - we are hearing the voice of the woman more loudly - the voice of peace for all nations, of care-taking of the earth, of creation, and of family. It is a voice that is becoming more confident and outspoken and requires of us all more vigilance and action.


Happy International Women's Day all!

ooh - this just in! of special interest from The Christian Science Monitor: "Can women find unique ways out of war?"




To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.