To Be or Not To Be

To be, or not to be. That is the question, isn’t it? This line has been used in many and diverse ways since Shakespeare penned it so long ago. In this instance as I borrow the saying of The Bard, the question in my mind is a hard one indeed. It is whether I shall truly be a woman and fulfill my God given vocation as a woman, or whether I will not.

But what exactly is the vocation of a woman? We are often filled with the notion that we are called either to marriage, or to the convent. Added to this, there is the none too subtle insistence that to be truly useful members of society women must have a high paying job and have lip service paid to them by those domineering men. No other path is ours to take. To a certain extent this is true. Women will either marry or enter the religious life, have a job or simply work at home. But I would like to put forth the hypothesis that in order to fulfill either of these callings, the foundation must be built. If this foundation is rock, or better yet, marble or diamond or gold, our vocation as a wife and mother, as a nun, or as an employee, will be more fruitful for ourselves and for those to whom we are bound, both physically and spiritually.

This foundation is our God given vocation to be a woman. You might be laughing right now and considering me to be either delusional, daft, or just plain stupid. But hear me out.

Let’s go back to the beginning. When our parents co-created us with God himself, it was God who gave us our sex. It was he who decided that we would be women. As women, he endowed us with a purpose and even gave us a share in certain of his attributes. God creates nothing that is bad. He only creates what is good. And if it is good, it must share specially in his goodness in one way or the other. What is one of the attributes that God has shared with women in an exceptional way? If we can answer this question, we can unlock a fundamental secret to living as a true woman, to living as God desires and created us to live.

This attribute is beauty.

God is infinite Beauty Itself and he created a world that is full to overflowing with beauty. Women are called to share in this attribute. To be beautiful and to bring beauty to those around them. Usually, a woman is happier and more confident about herself when she feels beautiful and when her husband or family sees that she is beautiful. We take time to decide what to wear and make sure the color schemes match and go well with our hair and skin tones. We choose which jewelry will look the best. We take time to do our hair and put on makeup. Etc. etc. etc. We are in fact called to take care of ourselves and to look beautiful, because God wants us to show his attribute of Beauty in ourselves. By showing beauty and grace in our outward appearance, we give God glory and provide the souls around us an opportunity to have their souls lifted to their creator by seeing this simple fulfillment of God’s plan for us.

The outer appearance though is only one facet of a woman’s vocation. Beauty must be interior as well. Women are called to make their souls shine with the love of God. We must constantly try to climb the mountain of holiness until we reach Beauty Himself. It’s a life long process and we will most likely not see when our souls start to glimmer with the diamonds and gold of our love of God. This beauty will be visible to God, our ultimate lover and it will be visible to those around us, because holiness shines through in the lives of those who attain it. The more we fulfill this vocation in our souls, the more we will be able to draw others to the love of God and win many graces for them.

In addition to showing forth God’s beauty in ourselves, we are called to bring beauty to those around us, whether it is our home, our work place, our Church. Wherever women are present, there is an increase in beauty be it flowers or works of art, home décor or tidiness.

There are so many examples of how women are called to be beautiful and to bring beauty. I hope to write more of my thoughts on this in the future, but for now, I hope an example will suffice. I was blessed to go to Ireland with my husband for our honeymoon. One of the Churches we visited was St Augustine and St John the Baptist in Dublin. This was one of the only churches we found in the city that was still Roman Catholic. The others had all been taken over. The side chapels in this haven showed forth in such brilliance how the Church sees men and women, their differences and their strengths. The way in which these differences are displayed for imitation in Our Lord and Our Lady was breathtaking. It was truly a very powerful experience for me and still fills me with awe and joy whenever I think of it. It also feeds a desire to fulfill my vocation of beauty as a woman and a wife and that men would fulfill their vocations as men. I hope the following explanation and pictures will furnish inspiration and food for meditation for you as it has done me.

The side chapel of Our Lady showed forth the woman’s gift of sharing in God’s beauty. This chapel was bright with the color blue. Fleur-de-lis were present everywhere the eye could see, including the stone arches enshrining the chapel. The art work was lovely and airy in a way. Perhaps reminiscent of the medieval ladies. Strong and brave, yet beautiful, attractive and delectable. This chapel raised the soul to God in a way that made one forget his awesome and mighty countenance and remember only his love. It caused the soul to revel only in the beauty of her who is a woman’s model. To go to her with utter confidence, bathed in light and beauty and certain of a loving embrace from her and the love and acceptance of God.

The side chapel to the Sacred Heart seemed to exemplify through the mind and the art of the Church that men are called to share in God’s attribute of Power. This chapel, while beautiful, was so in a very masculine, strong and almost stark way. The color tones were deep crimson and subtle. The etching was very masculine. Images of the Lamb and the Sacred Heart were present, even on the stone arches. It raised up the soul in a way that offered consolation, while at the same time driving home the fact that Our Lord is strong, stern and powerful. A true monarch that demands respect and fealty while also wanting love. It reminded me that when men truly fulfill their vocations as men, they are leaders who not only lead, but guide with love and cherish those in their care. Quite contrary to the misconstrued image of men that pervades our culture on both the right and the left today.

To quote Dostoevsky, “beauty will save the world.”