to shepherd - revisited

I don't often revise a blogpost - not because I don't see my errors - I do - but sometimes I feel that if I started in that direction I would end up removing the entire post - many posts, in fact. But that should only be done in the most extreme cases!

However, I have gone back and revised this post, removing a quote which I used to demonstrate a position I disagreed with. It wasn't really necessary to do that. It doesn't mean that I will not, in future, quote things with which I disagree - I will - but I hope with more relevancy.

Instead, I would like to provide a positive example, an example of what it means for a woman to figuratively fulfill the functions of a "shepherd" - to care for, nurture, protect and provide, and to use the leadership skills of running an organization.

Clara Barton, 1821 - 1912, began her working career as a school teacher. A few years later she established a free school. When it grew in size and required a full-time administrator, she was not chosen by the school board for the position. She changed careers and later became one of the first women to have a clerkship with the federal government in Washington. During the Civil War she became the first woman to work on the battlefields organizing medical supplies and care.

Officially, she became the superintendent of Union nurses in 1864 and began obtaining camp and hospital supplies, assistants and military trains for her work on the front. She practiced nursing exclusively on battlefields, experiencing first-hand the horrors of war on sixteen different battlefields.

She founded the American National Red Cross on May 21, 1881 and was the President for 22 years. She was a single Christian woman who crossed many gender boundaries in order to nurture, care for, provide and protect. She was a leader and an organizer. She was the kind of person I had in mind when I said that both men and women demonstrate the wide range of characteristics belonging to a "shepherd". I wrote,

The metaphor of the shepherd unites in one whole person the gift and service of guiding, governing, protecting, nurturing, and providing care. Jesus, as the good shepherd, models all of these and demonstrates that each of us, either male or female, is a complete human being without need of "completion" by another [human being].

I know some will say - oh, but that is not in the church. And I would say - don't we want people like her using their full range of gifts in the church? Her story touched me.

For a story that presents the other side, men as caregivers, click here.

Yes, this is a special May 21 post. American too! Here in Canada we are having a holiday -Victoria Day. What's up down your way? You could always petition for a Clara Barton Day.