Friday's thoughts on Sunday's sermon

In Deborah Tannen's book, You Just Don't Understand, we find this explanation concerning the difference between men and women:

"Much of what has been written about women's and men's claims that males are competitive and prone to conflict whereas females are cooperative and given to affiliation. But being in conflict also means being involved with each other. Although it is true that many women are more comfortable using language to express rapport whereas many men are more comfortable using it for self-display, the situation is really more complicated than that, because self-display, when part of a mutual struggle, is a kind of bonding. And conflict may be valued as a way of creating involvement with others.

To most women, conflict is a threat to connection, to be avoided at all costs. Disputes are preferably settled without direct confrontation. But to many men, conflict is the necessary means by which status is negotiated, so it is to be accepted and may even be sought, embraced, and enjoyed."

In the sermon Sunday I will explore the "satisfaction of a man". Men have a long view of things and like to imagine a legacy being left. We love to write books and put our names on the books we write. We name buildings after ourselves so that we can achieve a degree of immortality. Women become immortal through the birth of children.

The satisfaction of Abraham was the idea that his people would carry his name and would populate the earth. Many men like to think of themselves as mentors for those who follow us.

Women have children to carry for them an immortality beyond their lives. Men mentor young people who will carry the knowledge they have gained and that enables men, somewhat, to defeat finitude.

How do these ideas strike you? Are they true? False?

If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to share your thoughts with the readers of this blog click on the 'comments' box below.


I look forward to hearing from you.



Charles Schuster