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When the Mystery Engulfs

There are times when the mystery engulfs me, thoughts flow through my fingers and into the computer, taking on a life of their own. When all is finished, I look at the piece and wonder where it came from and wish I were smart enough to be able to call it my own. Months later, I can view the statistics collected on my articles and know with a certainty, by the readership numbers, which pieces reflect my own attempts at writing. They are the least frequently read.

I stumble through life trying to make my life matter, to make a difference, only to be continually confronted by how very ordinary I really am. My life story embarrasses me. Thus I am completely astounded when God does use me for I can look around me and see so many whose lights shine far more vividly than does my own. My greatest reassurances come through the many Bible stories showing how God used the most unlikely servants to do His will.

Through the ages the Bible has been used as verification that women are destined to play the lesser role, the helpmate role. God has always made it clear that my place is as a coordinator, not a leader. That is a helpmate role in which I am satisfied because it is so comfortable for me.

But I am not sure we really have it right when we say all women belong in specific slots. God appointed Deborah as a Judge; God placed the Gentiles in Jesus' lineage through Rahab, a prostitute and traitor to her own country. Let us not forget when Mary and Martha were receiving Jesus and friends, it was the one who went to the kitchen to serve who was chided, not the one who sat at his feet and listened with the men. Joan of Arc would have been more believable had she been a man trained for the position of military commander.

I communicate with seekers and searchers from around the globe. I hear whisperings from all directions telling us God is saying we have it all wrong. I am asking whether edicts about the proper role of women in God's Kingdom are one of the subjects which need to be readdressed with input from The Heavenly Father.

Jane Mullikin
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