7 15 03

8:15a

I Timothy 4:1-6:2

Grarg.

Okay� I Timothy 4 is instruction to Timothy which basically says, �don�t allow yourself to be affected by other people�s judgments of you. Just do your work, you work for God and He is the one who must find favor in you.�

There are issues with that chapter within this household, but I don�t have the energy to go into them quite yet, and I�m not all that sure they�re my issues. The maternal parental unit and the paternal parental unit are (and have been) at odds about the specific meaning of this chapter. I�ll leave it to them to hash out. To me, this whole chapter means, �Just do your work, you work for God and He is the one who must find favor in you.� (sound familiar?)

Anyway, the �grarg� came from verses 9 and 10 of I Timothy chapter 5. �No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband, and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.�

And again I say, GRAAAARG!

My only argument with this passage is the whole bringing up children being a good deed thing. Of course, as I complain about this, I see a new perspective, but that doesn�t matter. I�m Grarg-ing anyway.

I�m irked by my own assumption of meaning. I hate that yet again women are seen as second class citizens� that raising children is something they do to make everyone else see how wonderful they are. That�s not quite the proper explanation, but I can�t really think of what I want to say.

It�s frustrating to me to think that raising children could be equated with a �good deed�; as if there were no attachment, love, adoration, connection� as if the child were coincidental.

But, the different perspective I got for this was� perhaps the raising children spoken of here is not raising one�s own children, but doing Foster care or something like it. I mean, there was no such phrase � Foster Parent� in Timothy�s day.