I’m currently writing a press release for Selah, a women’s seminar to be held at my school in the fall. Checking out the website, I couldn’t help but grow just a tad bit nauseous. Now, I’m certainly not one to judge, and I do realize that women do benefit from retreats/seminars/whatnot. But I think that this tagline is what gets me: Clarify your journey. Hear from women who have taken time to refresh and refocus to successfully balance families, careers, and spiritual lives… a spa day for the soul.
Hmm… where do I begin? I think I just have a problem with the evangelical Christian idea that women need to be pampered in order for their spiritual lives to be clarified. I think of the nuns who labor with the mental and physical strength of men. They work diligently and find refreshment and spiritual strength in prayer, as well as in the Body and Blood of Christ. I also think of the mothers (married and single alike) who have no choice but to work to support their family, or who work diligently at providing a good home environment for their children. Careers and family are not burdens to be evaded; they are our path to salvation. A one day seminar might serve as a nice escape from the hustle and the bustle, but I’m not so sure that listening to speakers prod you to buy their books is the answer to life’s questions.
This last year I was in a Bible study. It was made up of all of the young women on my RA staff, and they chose Allure of Hope as the book of focus. Now, I can’t say that I went to many of these meetings… I had another young adult group meeting from church that sort of conveniently coincided with the Bible study every other week. I also can’t say that I read the book… at all. *shrug* I think that hearing them talk about it was enough for me.
Basically, their discussion surrounding the book left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Too sweet, I think. The other gals in my group loved the book, as it continually reinforced a bunch of romantic ideals that they found appealing, i.e. “God is your prince, and He is so incredibly enraptured by your beauty. He wants to fulfill you, take you in His arms and tell you, ‘You are precious in my eyes.’”
Now, that is not a direct quote, but it’s not too far of an exaggeration. The book encouraged women to relax, to find peace, to feel beautiful amidst the scurry of the world.
Now, does the Bible ever address such frivolous needs? I think the need to feel beautiful, to relax and to be acknowledged as “a pretty princess” ignores the very fact that we are sinners, and we can never expect to levitate towards God simply by feeling beautiful. Jesus never said to the Samaritan women, or to any of the myrrhbearers, “I'm enamored by your beauty.”
Another thing that bothers me about the Selah tagline is 'Hear from women who have taken time to refresh and refocus to successfully balance families, careers, and spiritual lives.' Gee. Sounds like these women have it all together. They’ve got the hot career, working the evangelical circuit, traveling around the world and giving seminars. They MUST have it all together. No wonder they expect women to fall at their feet with fistfuls of cash, waiting to buy their latest book. I’m not so much opposed to public speakers (I’m a huge fan of Frederica Mathewes-Green), I just don’t approved of women who deem themselves as motivational gurus on self-help spirituality, promising unattainable success in “finding time to DO IT ALL.”
This just in: My editor just came in and asked how my progress was going on the Selah press release. She asked me if the seminar sounded appealing to me, and I kind of hemmed and hawed and basically said, “Not really.” She smiled and told me that there was one line that rubbed her the wrong way, and that was the "Hear from women…” statement mentioned above. Upon hearing this, I was quick to enthusiastically show my equal disregard for the statement. It was rather funny. Looks like I won’t be the woman who finds Selah just a tad bit offensive.
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