Stand tall, you're a daughter of God!

President Gordon B. Hinckley said: "Then as His final creation, the crowning of His glorious work, He created woman. I like to regard Eve as His masterpiece after all that had gone before, the final work before He rested from His labors." (I like that better than...after He created woman he needed a break...)

So, there's a misperception among people, including, surprisingly, some seemingly stalwart members of the church, that Eve disobeyed God, was cast out for sinning, Adam, who would never have done such a thing, and now in a hard position, had to go out after her as he was commanded to be with her, and so Adam (man) was Eve's (woman's) connection to God--that woman seems to be "cast out" further, in some odd twisting of sense, than man is cast out. And so man is the head of his wife and the household.

There are some relationships where the man's expression of his wife being "equal" is a patronizing attempt to smooth over a belief that though she may be a child of God, man's role as priesthood holder is evidence that God entrusted his male children with more. More whatever. More power. More authority.

Excuse the cynicism, here, but heck, I'm not speaking in conference...what a bunch of bull. (And if Jeffrey R. Holland, my hero, can stand in conference and say, "frankly pathetic" in regards to the answers people conjure up about the origins of the Book of Mormon, then I think I should be allowed to call this "a bunch of bull" on my blog. Plus I'm a fan of alliteration.)

Perhaps I'm sensitive to this topic, after being told that I'm a feminist who "won't follow her husband" or "submit" like I'm "supposed to", and if I did then all the things I'm "using as distractions, like trust and communication, would solve themselves."

But I find solace in the interesting twist of "fate" that leads me to read a line of my patriarchal blessing differently now, having experienced that. If I can lay my cynicism aside, I truly am grateful (easier said now than then) for the experience that has led me to seek insight into the divine role of women, our relationship with God, and to a greater desire to understand our roles as wives, mothers, homemakers and church workers. And I hope, to teach that effectively and EARLY to the young women of my stake. And my daughter(s). And sons.

I'm going to share with you what I read tonight--when I did, I felt strong emotions, and an increased understanding of my relationship with God, and consequentially an increased feeling of His love. All women should read this!! (And men.)

"Trusted by God and revered by all the spirits of heaven, Eve was both blessed and burdened with the knowledge this title [Mother of All Living] conveyed. No spirit could come to earth, gain a body, and thereby be allowed to work out his or her own salvation if Eve did not choose to make possible the fall to mortality [which, I'd like to add, led to the Atonement!]...

"...'And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him" (Moses 3:18).

"It seems that some of the original purpose and power the term 'helpmeet' has been lost through the ages. In today's vernacular, 'helpmeet' would seem to indicate a person of lesser stature, a subject, a subordinate. Yet a careful examination of this venerable expression yields an altogether differing meaning.

"...The original text of Geneis 2:18 is even more enlightening. According to biblical scholar David Freeman, the Hebrew word translated there into English as "help" is 'ezer'. This word is a combination of two roots, one meaning "to rescue," "to save," and the other meaning "to be strong," but in time said Freedman, 'ezer' "ws always interpreted as 'to help,' a mixture of both nuances. 'Ezer' appears twenty-one times in the Old Testament.

"...Thus it seems that through imprecise translation, our understanding of the powerful words used originally to describe Eve's role have been diminished. As a result, our understanding of the intended role of Mother Eve has also been diminished. Suppose we had all, male and female alike, been taught to understand Genesis 2:18 as something like the following: "It is not good that man should be alone. I will make him a companion of strength and power who has a saving power and is equal with him."

"...Adam and Eve were not unequally yoked. Eve was created as a suitable partner for Father Adam, the first of the human race on this earth. Created in the exact image of her heavenly parents, Eve came to Adam uniquely prepared to perform her assigned duties, to act as a companion with the first high priest in mortality--to be a partner with him.

"Collectively and individually we would be better served if the correct meaning of our English term 'helpmeet' were well understood and incorporated into our writing, thinking, and speaking. If humankind historically had accepted this more careful and correct interpretation, perhaps attitudes, laws and customs would be different, and the relationships that God intended between men and women, between husband and wife, between women and society would function more easily."

We are daughters of God! Loved just as much as his sons. With divine purpose and individual worth. Don't forget it!