November 10, 2010

I Can See You Now (A Letter to a Friend)


...I wonder what you thought all those years ago. About me.  About my life...

We could relate when we talked about books and poems and longing to be loved. But we were talking about two different things.

Were you holding your tongue when I rhapsodized about this guy- about that guy? How nice they were. How smart they were. How gentlemanly they were. And how they liked me. And I liked them. And their smile made my world shake, the room swirl around me- my stomach tie up in knots- my eyes dance in happiness.

What were you thinking, friend?

I remember the way I caught my breath- the way my heart lurched in pain- when you told me you would never marry. That you didn’t want to marry. That you were going to be a nun.

Two fourteen-year-old girls- and in two different worlds.

I didn’t understand yours. And you were too young- and too surrounded by it- to explain it to me.

Years passed between us. I was ever in your prayers. You were daily in mine.

Time brought us both experiences that made us understand one another.

There we were- seeing each-other after so long- laughing and talking so fast over our drinks at Starbucks… realizing we had stepped into each other’s worlds.

I had been raised by a godly man. My whole life had been surrounded by males whom I looked up to- whom I could follow- boys whom I admired and instinctively- blindly trusted. I had not been sexually abused- as you had been.

India was the closest I ever got to ever experiencing what it might feel like- objectification- to despair of ever being loved for who I am as a person- to be ashamed of my own femininity.

And now we had switched places. You who had known so few true men were surrounded by them at seminary. You were being treated like a queen- and were becoming one.

And I? At my college… I see girls- who have lost all they ever had to give- with no conception of what it means to be- nor any hope of ever being- cherished. I see men taking advantage- daily- of our vulnerability. Do you know what it did to me, dear friend, to see boys (I can’t call them men) shove, pull, mock, and strike their girls- in public (all this mixed in with false, filthy kisses)- and not one person protest? Oh, sister! How easily we are lead! How easily we love! How easily we are deceived!

What does a girl do when she has no protector? She can do one of two things. She can give in. Or she can recognize the men around her for what they are: animals- and refuse to be their plaything in the only way she knows how.

I read the paper you wrote. I will quote it here. “I got tired of men real fast. By thirteen, I was dressing like one, talking like one, walking like one. I wanted to be one, because men weren’t man enough. I saw a need for men, but I couldn’t see any men. I had to make up for what men were not. I was the man of the house. Women have become the new men, that’s my theory.”

I understand the feminist, now. I am not one. But I understand what wrongs have made them- and I find in my heart no strength to judge my fellow sisters- for I have been blessed with what they were not: to know men made after the likeness of God- who sacrificed themselves as Christ did for their brides.

I know you are meeting them, too. And I know you are coming to love them as I do. I am glad. But my heart breaks for our sisters who will never have the hope that you and I do. And I must love them- even as they hurt- as I loved you- because of the inescapable that we share: we are women.

6 comments:

  1. I don't understand though because feminism is why girls let themselves be treated that way. But I agree, we are dogs :0
    Bravo for recognizing for boys for what they are though, just boys.

    ReplyDelete
  2. November...
    walking
    under
    dripping
    trees

    ReplyDelete
  3. I think it's a self-perpetuating cycle. Girls aren't born with a desire to be mistreated- we want to be wanted (cherished)- fought for (won). Girls who have never had this modeled for them in a godly way by their fathers and brothers often then a) go looking for it in the completely wrong way (and, possibly, play the game themselves) or b) reject the system (feminists). ;-)

    Where feminists go with it all I think is completely wrong- but understand that they are rooted in bitterness and a sense of wrong and, at the very least, injustice.

    (They) are just boys, David. But please don't take this as an indictment against men. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Linda...this morning I found this....
    Nov.29th, 2008 -- Day after Thanksgiving
    All together
    sitting extra close
    gazing at each other
    chatting and giving toasts
    thinking of the future--
    uncertain things to come
    Obama, India, college
    and who knows what for some
    but for now we laugh and smile
    under the soft sparkle of Christmas lights
    and eat and drink to our heart's content
    As on comes the night
    But a whisper of fear hovers
    even as good times we remember
    As we each silently wonder
    if this is the last time ever
    we will be--together

    I love your practice of leaving these notes here and there around the cabin, which we don't find till we open a book or want to hear a certain record, sometimes, as this particular one, years later. what a wonderful way of saving those moments and giving us a chance to relive them again--and again, as we have them all posted on our bedroom door. they also remind us of what a wonderful heart you have.

    thanks....

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Linda,

    What a great post! I stumbled across your blog this morning when I was looking at your sister Sarah's wall. (This is *the other* Sarah by the way. :) ). I remember going through a time in college when I swore off men as well--none of them seemed to be godly or virtuous or anything like ones I knew back home. But God of course knew better, and I'm married to a man who is truly better than any Jane Austen hero. :-) (Unbelievable, but true). I'm so blessed to have a husband who loves me more than life itself, who gives me a bigger share of the bed every night, and lets me finish the chocolate because he loves me. How blessed we are to have godly men!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks for your comment, Sarah- (Yes, I remember you. :-)... I got to hear all about your wedding from (my) Sarah- and of course I've seen all the lovely pictures. :-) Amen- how blessed we are indeed for godly men. Glad you found one to keep for life. ;-) :-)

    ReplyDelete