Everybody Needs An Elizabeth

I think one of God's greatest creations is women.

That's not a feminist statement or sexist statement, because - believe me - I also think very highly of God's masculine workmanship.  Very.

But what's on my mind today is the collective of women.  The sisterhood.  

He created us together, to listen to each other, know each other, and need each other.  Our hormones even speak to each other, sucking us all onto the same emotional calendar if we live together long enough.  There is a rich tapestry in the sisterhood of women, and I love belonging among them.

Mary was the mother of Jesus.  Elizabeth was the mother of John.  John and Jesus were cousins, and that in itself intrigues me: Jesus' earliest playmate was likely his buddy John.

I am intrigued by the relationship I deduce and imagine between Mary and Elizabeth.  They were important to each other.  Through these two women, God changed the course of history.

They spent three months together, living the dailiness of life, walking through a full trimester of shared pregnancy.  I imagine their conversations - for sure, the magnitude and the holiness of the journey - but also the quiet discussions women have in daily life together.

They were each pregnant, and I imagine them comparing symptoms, encouraging each other, and affirming the path of growing a new person: this is what it's like, you're not alone, and what you're experiencing is normal.

I wonder if they affirmed in each other their motherhood and ultimately their womanhood.  I love this little snippet into what I perceive is the truest picture of friendship and community.

In The Road to Daybreak, Henri says, "How can I ever let God's grace fully work in my life unless I live in a community of people who can affirm it, deepen it, and strengthen it?"

An 'Elizabeth' is a refuge of wisdom, comfort, and joy.

Everybody needs an Elizabeth.

***

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the child leaped in her womb.  And Elizabeth was with filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb." . . . And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned home.