Patriarchy

“Women need the boundaries of the Patriarchy and a mission in life which is usually a husband, children and home. Absent such structure they malfunction and destroy civilizations.” Noah Revoy

“This is just a joke, right?”

     “This guy doesn’t really believe this, does he?”

          “What the F***?”

               “What rock did this guy crawl out from under?”

These were just a few of the responses I pondered when reading this meme on Facebook.

Even now a few days later, after checking out this person’s FB page, I am still shaking my head.

Is he even slightly aware of all that this statement insinuates; not the least of which is the implication all wars and destruction from the beginning of time are the fault of women because we have somehow malfunctioned?

Malfunction? Really? Machinery malfunctions. Hardware malfunctions. ROBOTS malfunction. Body systems can malfunction. But a living, breathing, spirit-filled human being? This whole statement is insanely obtuse when used to describe what happens to any beloved facing problems or challenges; let alone saying as such about half the human race.

Framing a woman’s “mission in life” within the “boundaries of Patriarchy” is demeaning and confining. Husband, children and home can be hugely spacious mission fields when lived outside of conditioned, patriarchal beliefs. I dare say women like Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sally Ride, and others would take issue with this limited and narrow vision of women’s fields of influence.

The conditioned beliefs of a patriarchal culture have led and continue to lead women to be objectified, abused, belittled and all manner of obscene and perverted acts of asinine thinking. We are seeing the effects of this politically, economically and ecologically on a worldwide level. Our home—Mother Earth as some would call her—cannot continue to absorb the exploitation of what is mostly a male driven society without disastrous results.

In other words, a woman’s heart can only take so much misuse before she closes the door to those who are not trustworthy enough to honor her grace.

Quite frankly, his quote sounds like it could have come straight from “The Stepford Wives” and it is the antithesis of the following enlightened passage.

“Our women have been chosen by the Creator to be the portal between the spiritual realm and this physical realm. The only force on earth powerful enough to navigate unborn spirits onto this planet.” Unknown

I do not wish to continue raking this gentleman over the coals of his own insanity because I do not know the context of his life that led him to draw this conclusion. Neither do I wish him harm. Quite the opposite, I hope his soul finds healing, health and happiness.

However, the contrast between the two quotes raises concern. Broadly speaking, why do women have to resort to manipulation and adaptation in order to be seen and heard? On a personal level, how does one live with a man when he truly will not listen to her?

I am NOT anti-man. I am anti-ego. And yet I am aware this infers men have more difficulties reining in their egos than women.

“Everything of which the Holy Spirit reminds you is in direct opposition to the ego’s notions . . . The Holy Spirit has the task of undoing what the ego has made.” 5:III:5: 4-5 A Course in Miracles

One of the problems is the misinterpretation of Bible verses like the following:

“ADONAI, God, said, “It isn’t good that the person should be alone. I will make for him a companion suitable for helping him.” Genesis 2:18

Other translations use the word helper or partner for the word companion in this verse; none of which truly draw out the spirit of this verse.

Chaim Bentorah states the following:

“The word good is tov which means to be in harmony with God. A more correct rendering would be “man is not in harmony with God (when) he is alone.”. . .

I like the KJV rendering help meet, suggesting God created someone who would help Adam meet God. Take a close look at the literal rendering of this phrase help meet, which in the Hebrew is: ‘ezeg kenegedou’. The word ‘ezeg’ is really a reference to someone who will help you obtain something. The word ‘kenegedou’ comes from the root word ‘neged’ which means to stand in front, to lead, to announce, to clear the way, to blaze the trail, or make something clear . . .

When God said He would make a help meet he was saying “I will make a helper to stand in front of him, to lead him, guide him and clear the way to my presence.” The sages often picture a neged as a gateway or doorway. Some of the sages, however, see a deeper picture. A picture of someone taking man by the hand and leading him to God.

This makes more sense especially in light of the fact that the Aramaic word for Holy Spirit is feminine.

The Holy Feminine . . . that which leads us to the heart of God.

Paradoxically for me, it was in raising my three sons that the Holy Feminine was most apparent. The more I discerned the Spirit, the more intentional I became in my parenting, which led to a deeper spiritual awareness and more enlightened intentionality. The fruit of which I now enjoy as I watch my sons parent their own children with grace-filled purpose—coincidentally they each have a daughter, and so the cycle continues.

Absent the “boundaries of patriarchy,” the Divine Feminal blossoms and blooms ever outward bringing healing and wholeness to all of Her Creation . . . it must NOT be stifled by ignorant thinking and beliefs.

Please visit the following links for further meaningful insights:

www.chaimbentorah.com/2013/09/word-study-meet-ezeg-kenegedou/

www.cartercenter.org/news/editorials_speeches/observer_071209.html