Women and Worth

            We women receive so many different messages about our worth, from so many different sources. We are only as valuable as our bodies, so we should flaunt them—or we should cover them up. We are only as valuable as our purity. If we make a mistake, we are chewed gum, of no worth to anyone. We are valuable only if we are thin and young. If we are mothers and stay home, we aren’t making the most of our brains. If we are mothers and also work outside the home, we aren’t taking proper care of our children. If we are not mothers for whatever reason, we are selfish and think only of ourselves. If we are single others assume we are incomplete without a partner. If we are married we are the “old ball and chain.” Or, if we are married, we are only half of a whole and we are referred to as “my better half.” We are the trophy wife if we are younger than our partners. We are the cougar if we are older than our partners.

            We women are bombarded with messages about our worth all the time. It’s mostly lies.

            The truth is, you have inherent, innate worth. You were born with a unique mind and personality, with a unique body to house them. You are valuable because you are, because you exist. You are valuable because you have something no one else has—yourself. You are valuable because there is no one else exactly like you. Your past, whatever it is, has helped you become the woman you are, and given you gifts no one else has.

            You have eyes, or ears, or hands with which to receive this new message: you are of worth.

            There is value and honor in mothering, in cashiering at Walmart, in running a corporation, in waiting tables, and in running a country. There is value and honor in being a wife, a friend, an aunt, a sister, a cousin, and a neighbor. There is value and honor in those things your unique mind and body can do. There is value and honor in living well. These things are important to the smooth running of our social machinery. Your worth, however, is not tied to what you do with your time.

            Virtue, compassion, and gentleness are valuable. Your worth is not tied to your outward traits.

            We receive so many messages that make us feel valueless, and too often we believe them.

            What might happen if all women, everywhere, recognized and truly believed in their own value? How might the world be different is we all took possession of our inherent worth? Imagine what might change if YOU believed in your own innate value. Imagine what you could accomplish if you stopped wondering if you had anything good to offer, and simply knew you DO have something good to offer. Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, whatever your choices, there is value in you. You matter. You are important. You are of infinite worth.

Truth

            Two sentences, two educated men, changed my thinking forever.  A high school biology teacher showed me how to blend science and religion.  A math professor at a religious university showed me they were never separate.  My faith in God and thirst for knowledge stand on the shoulders of these men.

            Mr. Atkinson taught biology at my high school.  The predominantly Christian student body objected to the unit on evolutionary theory.  Someone asked him how he could believe in God and still teach evolution.  In one simple sentence, he closed the gap between God and scientists by saying, “I have no trouble believing both.”  It was a definite ah-ha moment for me; church and school were no longer opposed in my mind.

            Dr. Wynn taught calculus at my college.  Because I went to a religious school, every teacher was required to invite God into the classroom in some way.  On the first day of class, Dr. Wynn said, “All truth is of God.  If what I teach you in this class is true, you can feel God’s presence here in the math building.”  Science and religion are not different things.  Human knowledge and discovery are approved by and even inspired by God.

            I got glasses when I was nine.  My eyes have become progressively worse, until I cannot see further than the end of my nose.  I wondered, at nine, why God no longer healed the blind.  In college I came to understand that I am healed every morning when I put my contacts in.  I see because God led someone to the discovery of refracted light, and from there to focusing light on my retinas in a way my brain can interpret clearly.

            Today I question the assumption that “nature,” a garden, is the best place to feel creative or at peace.  The work of humankind—architecture, civil engineering, mechanics, electronics—is no less natural than a beaver’s dam or a bee’s hive.  All creatures use the earth around them for shelter, support and comfort.  Soaring glass boxes inspire awe as easily as majestic mountains, and fountains as easily as rivers. 

            A bit of elegant, ornamental grass in the shadow of an architectural sculpture housing a college science department brings together the works of God and the works inspired by God, creating an oasis of knowledge and wonder, of awe at the incredible intellect of the dominant species, the creatures given more brains and bigger hearts than any other.