Thought for the Week

YESTERDAY was International Women’s Day and Sunday is Mother’s Day, so it is a good time to reflect on the role of women in the world and the church.

When watching the film Suffragette I was impressed by the courage, the conviction and the tenacity of the women who fought for the basic right to vote.

Throughout history women have been at the forefront of trying to make a difference for good in the world.

Women have been central in the caring and nursing professions and are commended for their nurturing.

Sadly, in many countries women are still oppressed and subjugated by men and denied some of their basic human rights.

Sadly, in every country, including our own, women are subjected to violence and abuse.

In the church itself, in the past, women were barely allowed to do more than make the tea, while the men got the important roles.

This always seemed strange to me when, in his ministry, Jesus affirmed women and treated them as equals.

It was to the woman who had gone to the well for water that Jesus divulged for the first time that he was the Messiah.

It was to a woman, Mary Magdalene, that he first appeared after his resurrection.

It was the women who were at the foot of the cross when the men had fled.

Jesus consistently affirmed women. Thankfully, things have changed in the church. Women are elders, ministers and even moderators.

So let us give thanks for the women who have made a difference in our own lives, whether they be mothers, partners, wives, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, ministers, nurses, doctors or any other woman who has been there for us.