"Handmaidens"

Handmaidens

by Marsha Ault

Girl. . .boy
womanhood. . .manhood
motherhood. . . priesthood
long ago in another place
divinely determined,
two parallel lines streaming
one of leadership and direction
another of nurturing and guidance
walking hand in hand.

Covenant women—
beloved daughters of God
in pre-mortal realms were
called and appointed to
special assignments here
on earth just as certain
men were foreordained.

Righteousness—not a
matter of role nor gender
in the work of building
the Kingdom of God—
women and men serving
together side by side
no envying
no exchanges
no renunciations
of role, but instead
being filled with the pure love
of Jesus Christ.

The Angel Gabriel
appearing to the young Mary
revealing that she would be
the mother of the Savior of
the world—
overwhelmed and shaken
and yet filled with faith
she knew that with God
nothing was impossible.
She simply replied,
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

In the end when all is fully
unveiled—will greatness be
measured by empires and wealth
or by the hands that helped
shape the generations
of man like a potter with
a ball of clay spinning on
a wheel?
(Written after reading “The Women of God” by Elder Neal A. Maxwell Ensign 1978 May)

Thanks for this blog.
Love,
Marsha