I KNOW THE PROVERBS 31 WOMAN AND I AM NOT HER

I am not a big fan of the Proverbs 31 Woman. I don’t mean the one in the Bible. I mean the one who sits next to me sometimes in church. The one who always knows the Greek behind that tricky scripture – the one who can make a rambunctious boy mind his manners with just a look – the one who makes every husband swoon with her melt-in-your-mouth pot roast and made-from-scratch coconut cream pie – who helps at the soup kitchen and the women’s shelter and the homeless shelter – whose kids win the academic ribbons at school competitions and who has been a size 2 since high school. I don’t mean she fakes it or is arrogant with it. This is just really is who she is and how her life works.

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WHAT DO YOU MEAN: “THIS AIN’T YOUR GRANDMA’S CHURCH LADY?”

If you are from my generation and possibly if you are a big Saturday Night Live fan, you have heard of the comedian Dana Carvey’s famous Church Lady skit. If you’ve never seen it, you can check it out on YouTube.

Dana Carvey’s interpretation of the Church Lady is funny in part because it has been too often true. Carvey’s Church Lady was harsh, judgmental, accusatory, impatient, “holier than you,” and seemed to be perpetually unhappy. Her demeanor caused fear in those she interviewed, or at least made them feel bad about themselves. Sometimes they had it coming.

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