| Article
Women. What Would We Do Without Them.
by Bernie Siegel, MD
I began to refer to God as a woman years ago
when I saw how many survival qualities were feminine qualities. On the other
hand we have to ask why did Eve eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and
get Adam to taste it also rather than the other way around? What is it about
women that leads them to behave in a way that men have trouble dealing with or
performing?
I would guess our creator knew that women are
involved in relationships and completeness while men are busy doing and
perfecting. So naturally Eve tastes the fruit as any child would, who is told
not to do something, while the parents are away. Out of that taste we learn we
are mortal and naked. The latter is not a problem to cover up but the former is.
However, out of the awareness of our mortality
come the true lessons on living. So I am grateful to Eve for her act and
openness to the serpents suggestions. Out of that experience I believe women
have developed many more survival skills which relate to their lives having
meaning. For men the meaning is most often in what they can do and when they
can’t do they die. Women relate to people and, therefore, find meaning in their
relationships no matter what their state of health. To quote two women, one with
nine children, "I can’t die ‘till your all married and out of the house" and she
lasted 23 years to do that. The other begged to be kept alive for her son's
wedding. Extreme measures were done and she was able to leave the hospital and
go to the wedding in a wheel chair. Upon her return everyone expected her to get
into bed and die. Instead she announced as she was wheeled off the elevator,
"Don’t forget I’ve got another son."
Married men live longer than single men and
have less lung cancer then single men who smoke just as many cigarettes. Women
with the same cancers as men live longer. Some oncologists will tell you that
estrogen and progesterone must be protecting the women and sleeping with it is
protecting the men. Just kidding. The truth is again the survival value of the
feminine qualities.
One thing, however, I am concerned about is
that after the kids leave home what is the meaning of a mother’s life. I see men
die when they retire and women when the kids leave home. So each of us must ask
how would you introduce yourself to God. Mother, lawyer, Dad etc.. doesn’t get
you in. When you realize your authentic self and divine nature God says come on
in. Then your survival is not dependent upon the role you are playing but the
life you are living.
Someday I hope we will all develop our feminine
and masculine qualities. In my book Prescriptions For Living I refer to it as
marrying yourself. When you become a complete human being and not a human doing
you achieve the life intended for you and will live the longest healthiest life
you are capable of.
Until that day there is no question that women
are the stronger sex. My wife, Bobbie, does comedy and several of her one liners
come to mind. "Women who think they are equal to men lack ambition. Women have
to accomplish twice as much as men to be recognized, but that’s not hard and
behind every successful woman there’s a man who is sulking." For the men, "Women
aren’t perfect three quarters of all women can’t understand fractions and the
other half doesn’t give a damn."
So develop your whole self but remember the
meaning of life is not in how many things you can fix but how many lives you can
touch. |
