By all outward indications, the answer to the question posed above is a resounding, “YES!”
The inward benchmarks (e.g., the sum of my urges, drives, thinking, and worldview) also seem to point in the direction of an affirmative response.
But lately I’ve started to wonder…
Last week I showed up for a training session for a new volunteer activity I am taking on. The activity involves telling stories to children in elementary schools in this area. It seems to be a good fit with my skill set as well as being a great way to bring a little joy and connection into our stressed out, beleaguered classrooms.
There were six new storyteller trainees in the room… I was the only male.
The same thing used to happen when I attended work-out classes at our gym. In a room of 30 participants, there might have been three other males… tops.
In the midst of the heated presidential election last year, I wanted to help register new voters. After much searching, I found that the only organization actively working on that goal was the League of Women Voters…
So, I joined!
The one group I have joined in the last two years that was all men was a book club. And – can I level with you here? – it was not all that enjoyable. When we gathered, I found lots of posturing and competing to see who had the best insight into the author’s meaning.
It seems to me that everything I am drawn to – in terms of groups or activities or outreach – is dominated by WOMEN! I am also a churchgoer and every piece of research that has been done in the last 30 years will tell you that many more WOMEN attend church than men.
To that point, a recent ABC News/Beliefnet poll showed that 44% of the women surveyed reported that they attend church weekly vs. 32% for the men. In the Catholic church, the divide was even wider with 49% of women attending weekly vs. 26% of men.
So maybe the question really isn’t, “Am I actually a male?” Maybe the better question is, “Where are you, my brothers?”
All of this makes me ask:
- Is it a uniquely female thing to volunteer to serve your community?
- Is it a uniquely female thing to exercise with a group vs. on one’s own?
- Is it a uniquely female thing to seek to care for one’s spiritual health in a communal setting?
If the answer to any of these questions is, “YES,” I would also like to know, “Why is that?”
It really doesn’t bother me to show up in a room full of women. I think you all are – on the whole – intelligent, caring, energetic, and very open people. In a group of women, THINGS GET DONE! And quite often FUN is had along the way!!
I am sure there are multiple sociological studies on this topic that shed insight onto my question. Someday I might look one up and read it.
In the meantime, I guess I will just keep showing up, following the leading of the Spirit, and celebrating the people that show up there with me… whichever gender they are.
But before I sign off, I need to ask: does anybody have a good recipe for beef stroganoff you’d like to share?
Abundant blessings;
Are they? Or aren’t they?
During most years, the topic of freedom is something we trot out once a year… like our Christmas ornaments and tax returns.
I preach change all the time.
I’m not going to lie… I am more than a little bit scared.
inappropriately colored table runner I bought one day from a street vendor in Guatemala.
Q: When is a burning bush NOT a burning bush?
But then I have to ask, “Does that mean all of our efforts to enhance or improve something are fraudulent because they take us away from its ESSENCE? Should I just leave my vanilla ice cream alone and not add the chocolate syrup, whipped cream, chopped nuts, and a cherry… in the name of authenticity?”
Russellings of the Spirit 