It takes real courage to speak truth. It takes even more courage to call out what is a shadow of reality but has been accepted as black and white whole truth.
Rachel Held Evans has the courage to speak truth in A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband “Master”. In her latest book, Rachel addresses the question of what the bible really says about women…what they should do, can do, and can’t do. With humor and deepest respect for the Bible, Rachel points out that the Bible is less a rule book for us to follow and more of a love story for us to savor. The poetry of both Song of Solomon and Proverbs 31 are works of literary art, designed to describe and celebrate women. Rachel’s blog series Women of Valor, names and celebrates women who are already living into the label…”Eshet Chayil!”, the praise given to the Proverbs 31 woman.
I am deeply grateful for Rachel, herself a woman of valor, as a truth-teller. Her courage, sensitivity, and clever humor are disarming as we approach a sensitive issue like gender roles. Rachel’s deep love of the Bible and the church are evident as she wrestles to be true to the woman God has created her to be within the confines of her evangelical upbringing.
I can relate.
And so, thank you Rachel, for being courageous! Thank you for speaking liberating, affirming truth even in the face of harsh criticism. Thank you for recognizing women as virtuous. Thank you for breathing life into my own journey with truth. Your courage can set others free.
