Katharina:
I am ashamed that women are so simple
To offer war where they should kneel for peace;
Or seek for rule, supremacy and sway,
When they are bound to serve, love and obey.
Why are our bodies soft and weak and smooth,
Unapt to toil and trouble in the world,
But that our soft conditions and our hearts
Should well agree with our external parts? William Shakespeare
I watched the Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor version of this play on film last night. Katharina is a raging, angry, frustrated young woman, reminiscent of some I know. Her younger sister, Bianca, is charming, kind and beautiful. They are quite the contrast. Their father will not allow Bianca to marry until Katharina is wed. Finally, one man, Petruchio, is willing to take her on. Eventually, Katharina is won over to true, beautiful womanhood by the firm, consistent love, discipline and humor of a man unafraid to be all up in his God-given role as head of the house.
It is a beautiful movie but I loved most the final message of Katharina partially quoted above. It is a message for the ages. From Eden until this very moment, a godly woman's challenge is to bring peace and not war into her relationships. 21st century American marriages have become battle grounds for dominating rivals and angry judges instead of peace bearers. Every day, what are supposed to be Christian marriages, are falling apart. I know what you are thinking, and yes, we could blame it on the men. They can be selfish, and unwilling to show Christ-like love. They can make terrible choices which wives must share in. But it is an ugly world when children are forced to witness emotional and physical warfare between two stubborn, selfish adults inside their own home. In my role, I am seeing it daily.
There is a hardness, an anger, a coldness in women today, even in the church. The gospel of Matthew warns that as the world gets older and closer to the coming, " lawlessness will abound and the love of many will grow cold." The kind of love that passage refers to is family love. I see not only spiritual love dying, but the love of family, that was once considered a natural thing, dying away in our society. Women are walking away from their husbands and families in droves.
I fear for our children. Their concept of normal is so skewed. For them it is normal that half of all families are broken. It is normal for Daddies to live across town or across the country and be weekend visitors. It is normal for Mom to "have her own life" and resent the responsibilities she has at home. God help them as they grow up in this dark world.
Women, wake up. We desperately need to realign ourselves with the beautiful images of femininity and grace demonstrated by godly women through the ages. Instead of judging and despising our sinful and broken men, we need to lift them up in prayer. Instead of pointing fingers, we need to soothe brows. Instead of impatiently demanding our rights we need to minister to them faithfully in love. Instead of first pursuing our own goals and dreams, we need die to ourselves and put others first. There is no marriage that can withstand assault from the inside. There is enough waging against it from without.
