Kelly on Eve

I finished the book!  Hallellujah!  Not that it was a hard read or anything, I just kept waiting for a quiet house in which to think while I read and it just wasn't happening.

Andrea, I went to that forum where you picked up that article we discussed earlier.  I was curious and read through a few of the discussions.  I couldn't help thinking that some of these women are very, very self-centered/selfish.  They really have no concept of differences being equal while still being different.  Grrr.  I can't read that stuff.

Marilyn, thanks for the thoughts on temple veils.  Fascinating.  Never really thought too much about it until Saturday, which was before I read your post, so that was great timing. 

But back to Eve.

I loved, loved, loved learning some of the Hebrew roots and translations for words that are in the scriptures.  It puts such a different spin on how the world views the story of Adam and Eve.  I read every single one of those sections aloud to my husband because I knew he'd enjoy them, too!  My favorite one was regarding Adam and Eve's response to God after eating the fruit, when He asked them what they had done.  Eve knew and she took responsibility for her choice!
Informed Agency plays a huge role in this choice.  How awesome to think that Eve was not duped.  She was in tune and able to discern what was necessary.  It is silly that God would leave the choice to become mortal in the hands of uninformed beings - or that he would leave it in Satan's hands.  That is allowing Satan far too great a role and gives the honor for our mortality to him.  It would also have negated the role of agency as a necessary ingredient in our progression.

Didn't you think the thing about Mitochondrial Eve was interesting?

I was able to go to the Temple this past Saturday and really enjoyed the opportunity to sit and think about Eve as I experienced the endowment session.

Couple favorite quotes from the book:
     Not only will women need to seek truth for themselves but they will need to speak up courageously and articulately as half-truths or faulty premises are presented to their sisters in the guise of progress and enlightenment (78).

     President Kimball:  "Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world (in whom there is often such an inner sense of spirituality) will be drawn to the Church in large numbers.  These...female examplars will be a significant force in both the numerical and the spiritual growth of the Church in the last days" (119-120).

Loved the idea of mercy and justice being inherently female and male.  I just think that there is so much that we don't understand about the eternal nature of men and women.  Men and Women are different.  And it's a good thing.  It's also an eternal thing.  But neither loses anything.  We gain.

Final thoughts

I did learn new things in this book.  However, it was less of an enlightening experience and more of an affirmation of things I have always intuitively known.  I haven't felt left behind because I don't hold the priesthood.  I haven't battled the temptation to put career before family.   Some might call me suckered, or a blind follower.  I don't think so.  I have goals.  Many of them don't revolve around children and homemaking.  But I've also felt that my family goals were worthwhile AND that I wanted to do them first.  The idea of seasons in our lives has always felt appropriate and necessary.