Eve’S Sisters

By Jayne P. Bowers

In this compilation of essays demonstrating the application of psychological and spiritual principles to the women of the Bible, the reader will soon see the similarities between the lives of Biblical women and those of today. Just like 21st century Eves, some are wise, brave, and faithful, and others are conniving, imprudent, and downright disagreeable.

Then and now, women struggle with emotions, relationships, and personal choice as they navigate their way through life. Eve and her sisters felt apprehension, jealously, and self-doubt. And like us, many squared their shoulders and faced their fears head on. With its themes of love, faith, individuality, and fulfillment, the Bible can actually be seen as a self-help book.

Dont underestimate the power of these women who lived generations ago to reach across time and culture to touch our lives.

A semi-retired educator with a background in psychology, Jayne is the author of four blogs and has published articles/stories in Guideposts, The Petigru Review, and two LDS magazines, the Liahona and the Ensign. She has also written two books, Human Relations in Industry and Musings of a Missionary Mom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Inspiring Voices
• Release date: Apr 11, 2012
• ISBN: 9781462400492

Jayne P. Bowers

The author of four blogs, Jayne has published articles in Guideposts and the Ensign and written two books, Musings of a Missionary Mom (2007) and Human Relations in Industry (1989) Semi-retired, she can often be found walking along a Carolina coastline. Meet the author and read her blogs at www.jaynebowers.com.

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Copyright © 2013 Jayne P. Bowers

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ISBN: 978-1-4624-0048-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4624-0049-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011945340

Inspiring Voices rev. date: 03/18/2013

CONTENTS

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Choose You This Day

Cynthia’s New Direction

Eating the Fruit

Eve’s Choice

Mari and the Serpent

Where’s Your Garden?

Vashti Said No

The Virtuous Woman

Life Turns on a Dime

Me a Jezebel??

As A Mustard Seed

Sarai’s Faithfulness

True or False?

Mama’s Red Ribbon

Bake the Cake

Scared Heart

Hannah’s Faith

Unnamed but Important

Is It True?

Another Chapter

Rain, Rain Go Away

Personal Worth

A Little Maid

Rachel and Leah

Sexual Harassment?

Sparrows and Me

Vashti’s Fall from Grace

Woman at the Well

What’s Her Name?

Amazing Grace

Fight in TJ Maxx

Gifts Differing

Go Leah!

Love One Another

Modern Day Leah

Ruth’s Loyalty

Eve, Rachel, or Mary?

One Man, One Woman

Red Tent Pondering

Better Together

What Would Ruth Do Today?

Fight the Good Fight

Solomon’s Women

Mystifying Affinities

Train Up A Child

On Loan

Lessons from Rebekah

Watching and Waiting

Only Daughter

My Mother’s Legacy

The Better Part

Becoming Wise

Watch Out!

Turning Them Over

Be Not Afraid

Be Brave

Your Destiny

Tamar’s Courage

Mary’s Strength

Just Do It!

Don’t Look Back

Modern Day Sarai

This Moment

Filling Our Lamps

Living the Dream

Mary and Martha

Tamar and Others

2,000 Years Apart

Perceived Righteousness

Following Brooke

Dig a Little Deeper

Museum Moment

Charity Never Faileth

Angels Among Us

Be a Candle

The Blind Side’s Virtuous Woman

More Mary, Less Martha

Serving Apple Pancakes

Aunt Doc

One Hundred Dresses

Roomful of Dorcases

He Became Her Son

Keep My Commandments

Ark Life

A Virtuous Woman

God’s Law vs. Parental Law

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Leaving Home

Which is Harder?

Not Just Yet

The Original Rubber Necker

Six Little Words

Afterword

About The Author

References

For Minnie

1MinnieLaneyPadgett.jpg

Minnie Laney Padgett

Jerry to Jane: I think you’re my missing rib.

I think all women are basically the same, under the hood… . Our strength, our wit, and our hearts are more powerful than anybody could ever have imagined. Lisa Scottoline (2010, 4)

FOREWORD

By Paul C. Peterson

WHY WOULD A MAN write a foreword for a book about women in The Bible, a book written by a woman and presumably written for women?

The answer to that question is that, while Eve’s Sisters may have been written for women, it is a book that enriches everyone. Although women may be the primary audience, men will surely benefit from this lovely volume as well.

In fact, this book has much in common with an earlier work by Jayne Bowers, Musings of a Missionary Mom. I have had the privilege of knowing Jayne for nearly three decades. I would never have likely read Musings of a Missionary Mom but for the fact that she is a friend. When I read that book, I was delightfully surprised. I discovered that it was a book from which one could gain much, and to do so did not require being a mother or a missionary and, perhaps, not even a Christian.

Oddly enough I forgot that experience when Jayne told me about Eve’s Sisters. Until I actually began reading the manuscript, I thought this would be a collection of essentially biographical accounts of the women of The Bible. I assumed it would be good (after all it was Jayne Bowers), but it turned out to be quite different from what I expected. It is very much like Musings of a Missionary Mom. It is a very personal book, but not so personal that it is idiosyncratic.

There is a famous passage in The Book of Mormon that explains what Jayne is up to in both of these fine books. The ancient prophet Nephi explains, And I did read many things which were written in the books of Moses [unto his people] that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer. I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning (I Nephi 19:23). And there we have it: I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning. Jayne takes this charge of likening the scriptures to ourselves quite seriously.

Eve’s Sisters is an encounter with the scriptures. Jayne tells us: "I have tremendous respect for the women in the Bible. The more I read and ponder, the more I can see them in me. They weren’t perfect, and neither am I. Just like the women of today, Rachel, Esther, and Hannah all had their challenges and trials, and showed great faith in the choices they made and the lives they led." Had Jayne given us a more conventional treatment of the women of The Bible, I am sure that it would have been quite good and a spiritually nourishing account. But she has done much more. As with her earlier work, she has given of herself. She has likened The Bible to herself and invites us to do the same.

Jayne moves in different directions in this book. Sometimes she will start with a story about one of the women in The Bible and then apply (liken) that story to contemporary circumstances. Other times she will begin with a story—often a personal one—from the present and move back to biblical accounts. Jayne also recognizes that one crucial element that makes these biblical accounts have such enduring power over the centuries is that they deal with fundamental matters of human nature. She reminds us that Just like the wives, mothers, judges, daughters, harlots, widows, and queens of the Old and New Testaments, women of the 21st century have the freedom to make choices, faith, a sense of individual worth, relationship savvy, courage, spirituality, charity, and the willingness to trust and obey. She can imagine herself in their circumstances. And she can imagine them in contemporary circumstances.

Jayne also observes: I don’t know how many women there are in the Bible, but I do know that every single one of them is there for a reason and that there is something to be learned from each story. Whether a woman is feeling angry, jealous, sad, despairing, lonely, unappreciated, afraid, unloved, overlooked, unimportant, or lost, she finds answers in the lives of the women in the scriptures. Look at that list of emotions. Men, too, have felt that entire range of emotions. That passage, along with many others, reminds me of a powerful song by Lucinda Williams. I seldom hear it without tears coming to my eyes. To quote three verses:

You weren’t born to be abandoned

You weren’t born to be forsaken

You were born to be loved

You were born to be loved

You weren’t born to be abused

You weren’t born to lose

You were born to be loved

You were born to be loved

You weren’t born to suffer

And you weren’t born for nothing

You were born to be loved

You were born to be loved

The knowledge of what God intends for His children is what makes this song truly painful at a certain level. We know that we were not born to suffer or to be abandoned, forsaken, and abused. And we were certainly not born for nothing. But we also know that too many sisters (and brothers) are abandoned (sometimes physically, sometimes emotionally), forsaken, abused, victimized, and treated as though they were born for nothing. That huge gap between what God intends for us and what we so often see around us is a constant on-going tragedy in human affairs. Jayne knows this all too well, and it shows in this book. Perhaps this is why Jayne likes the story about Jesus and the woman at the well so much. It makes several appearances in her text. Jayne likes it because, I love the way Christ speaks to women without judgment or harshness. She knows that too often our conversations and dealings, even with the people that we profess to love the most, are filled with harsh judgment. These judgments get in the way of our spiritual and psychological connections to those we love and those we should love.

Jayne is an academic psychologist by training. And she has had an effective teaching career in that discipline. Her educational background shows up in a non-intrusive way at certain points in the text. Thus, she writes: Rarely does a day pass when I’m not reminded of some of the parallels between Biblical teachings and psychological concepts. Both remind us to be of good cheer, and in Proverbs 17:22, we’re told that a ‘merry heart doeth good like a medicine; but a broken spirit drieth the bones.’ Health psychologists who study the relationship between a person’s thoughts and emotions on her immune system know this too. While her academic background no doubt strengthens this book, one cannot help upon reading it seeing that Jayne would have made a pretty good amateur psychologist had she never gone into it academically.

As much as I admire this book, I do have one area of disagreement with Jayne. At one point in discussing Solomon’s wives (Jayne calls them 1,000 nobodies, but she does so ironically, knowing that while these women go unnamed in The Bible, they are, indeed real flesh, blood, and spirit individuals), she expresses her appreciation for not living under those circumstances and being born in America, the greatest nation on Earth, during the latter part of the 20th century after so many courageous women had paved the way for me to have an easier, more fulfilling life. She adds that had she been one of Solomon’s chosen women, I think I would have shriveled up and died. After reading this book and having it affirm what I already knew about Jayne, I find that assessment seriously off the mark. Jayne Bowers is not and would not be one to shrivel up and die in the face of adversity.

Eve’s Sisters is perhaps best considered as a warm conversation at the kitchen table about gospel truths with a knowledgeable, perceptive, and good-hearted friend. As with any such conversation, we come away intellectually and spiritually enriched. You are invited to pull up a chair and join in.

Paul C. Peterson

Department of Politics & Geography

Coastal Carolina University

Conway, South Carolina

January 16, 2012

PREFACE

A WORK FRIEND AND I were recently talking about favorite stories from the Bible, and interestingly, all of his were about men, men like Moses, Noah, Daniel, and Paul.

What about the women? I asked. After all, you know what they say about the power behind the throne.

Incredulously, his reply was something like, I have to admit that I really don’t know about any women in the Bible. Oh, wait. Now I remember. There’s Eve… and Mary, the mother of Christ. Are there more?

Are there more??? There surely are, and we can learn lessons from all of them. Some are paragons of virtue and strength, while others are treacherous and deceitful. There are queens and judges, seamstresses and mothers, temptresses and idol worshippers. There are even a few harlots and at least one witch. We know about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but what about Sarah, Rebekah, and Rachel? What were their lives really like? What can we learn from them about courage, faith, and stress management?

The Bible tells us that no prophet has ever lived like Moses, but what about his wife Zipporah? Can we learn from her? I think we can… and from Hannah, Tamar, and Naomi too. And Hagar. What a dreadful life she must have lived, knowing that Sarah despised her after she conceived Ishmael. What would Hagar say to us if she could speak?

Martha, Dorcas, Elisabeth, and other New Testament sisters stand ready to teach us as well. As I write this, I’m imagining the Savior’s gentle tone as he says, Martha, Martha when she complains that her sister isn’t helping with dinner preparations. Psychologists who study the effects of stress would confirm the importance of balance in one’s life and remind Martha to chill.

And lest I forget, most of these women were imperfect, just like you and me. Esther was courageous, but she also had a little vengeful streak. After all, didn’t she request the hanging of Haman’s sons after they were already dead? And then there’s Sarai who was mean to Hagar, Rebekah who showed favoritism to Jacob, and Rachel who stole things from her father’s household and then lied about it. Jael was seemingly nurturing, and yet she drove a nail through a man’s temple while he slept, thus securing a victory for her people.

In this book, you’ll learn about women who are wise, brave, or faithful and others who are conniving, imprudent, or disagreeable. Just like the women of the 21st century, they can’t be easily categorized. Some of us are career women while others are wives and mothers. Some are both! We are married, single, divorced, widowed, and we struggle with children, men, parents, families, work issues, social issues, finances, and temptation. Their stories are our stories.

Inspired by my friend’s question, I started a blog, http://evessisters.blogspot.com, based on my questions and insights about the women of the Bible. Soon intrigued, I could see that there were numerous parallels between their lives and mine. Unlike us, they lived without electricity, automobiles, cell phones, and air conditioning, but like us, they had challenges with fear, inequity, men, children, loss, and sickness.

Fueled by my cousin Cynthia’s reentry into the academic world to study Christian counseling, I decided to turn the blog into a book of short essays about Eve and her sisters. Cynthia and I share the same confidence in the power of these women who lived generations ago in a land far across the sea to touch our lives. Surely something about Abigail’s shrewdness and quick thinking will strike a responsive chord. Or maybe it will be Hannah’s faith, Michal’s love for David (at least in the early days), or Leah’s steadfast devotion.

Armed with a background in psychology, I could readily spot the application of certain psychological principles to their lives and ours. Like the women of today, the women in the Bible struggled with emotions, relationships, and personal choice as they navigated their way through life. They felt apprehension, jealously, and self-doubt. And like us, many of them squared their shoulders and faced their fears head on. They raised families, dealt with economic issues, and suffered abuse. With its themes of love, faith, and individuality, and fulfillment, the Bible can actually be seen as a self-help book.

Let’s start with Eve, the mother of all living. Wondering about her life in Eden was the impetus behind the book. She started it! Looking at her choices and those of her sisters will provide much food for thought.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

SPECIAL THANKS TO ANN and Mindy, two of Eve’s sisters whose generous hearts, sharp minds, and Biblical knowledge helped bring this volume to fruition.

INTRODUCTION