Stereotype

"There is nothing wrong with you," the older doctor states emphatically.

"What about..."

"Nothing wrong. Just go on home and..."

He's wrong of course. There are at least two things wrong with me as I sit in the consultation room. One I'm a woman, two on my chart it says, 'Works at home'. That translates into: a woman that sits at home all day, does nothing but fabricate illness/symptoms, feels bad about self, and eats too much.

"Just go on home, eat less, and exercise more. You have no problems, stress is just a lack of faith, and..." He has all the answers, but has never listened to the questions.

He's not a bad person, he's not even a bad doctor. Maybe he's seen too much and forgotten just as much.

Ever been stereotyped? Probably all of us have. And we probably, at least to a certain extent, do the same.

"These kids today! They're all going to ..." the older woman is sitting at the table talking to an acquaintance. She was on a rant for whatever reason.

"Never trust a person over 30," some one said way back when I was much younger. I wonder, did that change when the speaker got to the dreadful age of--THIRTY-- FORTY--or beyond?

I remember. I remember being fifteen. It was the year after I had learned and obeyed the gospel. Thankfully when I came up out of the 'watery grave of baptism', I was suddenly perfect. Well--I wish, anyway. No, of course not. I had a lot of struggles, a lot of 'history' to overcome.

Not having been held to much of a code of responsibility by any one, the first challenge was to understand the idea of 'authority'. Yes, God was my authority, but how do you deal with 'authority', when you have had an 'absentee' father. Someone I never knew...and have never known. Mother? If my mother said the moon was blue, you just said, 'Yes, ma'am,' whether you agreed or not. She surely was an authority, but she came and went in my life on a whim. I didn't have to deal with her often. So, someone (or thing) that was a steady, constant (omnipotent) authority was a new concept. A being that would be there always, whenever I needed them? I'm still, even after all of these years, working on that aspect of faith.

Fifteen! What a long time ago! I see too many children now who are going through the same things I went through at that age... and it isn't good.

Genesis 2:23-24 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24) Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

By all indications I should have been in the forefront of the women's rights movement. What had 'men' ever done to improve my life? Surely I would have been better off with 'more freedoms' and 'more rights'. But wait...

My mother was already a 'freed' woman. She married, and divorced, four times. Better child care wouldn't have changed her life. Better health benefits wouldn't have changed our lives. Better pay wouldn't have been the answer either. What was missing was the very thing that the women's movement wanted to remove for (and from) everyone's lives.

I don't remember when we stopped honoring men. In today's society you can tell a man to stand up, sit down, turn around, and even to shut up, but you can't tell a woman anything.

Retribution, some may cry. Look at all those years (no, centuries) that men 'ruled the roost', so to speak. No, they aren't perfect, but what makes us think women are perfect either?

"Well," the woman says, "I'm tired of all of these men in politics. Look at the mess they've made! I say we ought to try a woman for a change."

"Well, that may be so, Martha, but one thing I've learned is this, a corrupt politician is still a corrupt politician, whether it be a man or a woman."

One thing we need to remember is that God is the supreme authority in all matters. When I have a problem or a question. I take it to the Lord. I examine the scriptures, the intents, even the history and context of what is said. It helps me to understand and follow what God wants. Yes, there still are difficult question, and sometimes even harder answers.

I don't know what my life would have been like if I had been reared in a 'normal' home/family. I believe God has allowed (not necessarily wished) me to endure some of these things, so that I may be able to reach out and help others. If in some way that is possible, and God is glorified through it, then the struggle will not have all been in vain.

2Timothy 2:11-12 "Faithful is the saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him: 12) if we endure, we shall also reign with him:..."

Hebrews 10:23 "let us hold fast the confession of our hope that it waver not; for he is faithful that promised:"

It is hard to believe, but at my age I find myself less patient with people who want to put me (and yes, I tend to be a 'round' peg) into a square hole. I don't know what it is about the phrase, I work AT home, that is so hard to understand. I don't believe all children are going down to a very bad end. I don't believe that all old people are dumb and senile. I don't believe that all men are stupid pigs, nor all women incompetent nincompoops. There are some in all of these categories that fit the peg, but I have found quite a number who renew my faith in the gooodness of God, and His creation.

Romans 13:7 Render to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for it;

Titus 2:4 that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,

John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Revelation 3:11 I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.