The Jeff Cavins Show (Your Catholic Bible Study Podcast) - Why Women Carry a Purse

Episode Date: June 14, 2024

Have you ever wondered why some women carry a purse? What is that they keep in their purse? Out of genuine curiosity, Jeff Cavins has asked these questions of some of the women in his own life. He shares what he learned from them and what it says about the nature of women. Snippet from the Show It is the nature of a woman to give and to love and to relate to other people. Email us with comments or questions at [e-mail]. Text “jeffcavins” to 33-777 to subscribe and get Jeff’s shownotes delivered straight to your email! Or visit https://media.ascensionpress.com/?s=&page=2&category%5B0%5D=Ascension%20Podcasts&category%5B1%5D=The%20Jeff%20Cavins%20Show for full shownotes!

Welcome to the Jeff Kaven Show, where we talk about the Bible, discipleship, and evangelization, putting it all together in living as activated disciples. This is show 380, Why Women Carry a Purse. Welcome to the show. Boy, it's good to be with you again, talking about the things of the Lord, particularly as, I enjoy talking about discipleship and I enjoy talking about Bible study. You know me, that's been my life, you know, for 40 years plus. And I really enjoy talking about love. But one of the things I also like talking about is things I notice in society. You know, I'll notice something in society and I'll ask myself, I don't know, why is that?

I mean, there's got to be a reason why people do this or that, you know. Why do they wear their hats backwards, you know, things like that? I'll get to that show later. That's probably going to be show 930 or something like that. But I was thinking, you know, about the show today. And for quite a few weeks, I had this topic kind of rolling around like a tumbler for rocks making agate's beautiful. I had this topic rolling around. Why do women carry purses?

And it's not something that just came out of the blue. It's something I've been living with for 46 years. Well, longer than that. because my mother carried a purse. But the last 46 years, I've been married to Emily, and she carries a purse. And then I noticed that all three of my daughters were carrying purses. And I was the only one in the family didn't have a purse.

And so I got to thinking a lot about it. So we'll get into that in just a moment. But before we do, if you do want the show notes, then that's pretty easy to do. All you got to do is text my name, Jeff Kaven's, one word, Jeff Kavins. And you can text it to the number 3-3-7. 777. It's got to be the most Christian number to message. 3377. It's just filled with symbolic meaning there. So anyway, we'll get you the notes to the show and then you'll be on

that forever. And if you want, you can get off at any point and you don't want to take the, you know, the notes that's up to you. But let me share with you the advantage of having those notes. If you're running, or if you are, you know, working out, or you are sitting in a crowd and you don't want to take notes, you're just listening. Well, then the notes are very helpful. And so after years of doing this, you're going to have a whole notebook full of these notes. If you print them out and it could be valuable, you never know. Okay, so one more thing I want to share with you before I talk about why women carry purses, and that is, would you be kind enough to delicately smash that like button?

I listen to these podcasts and I hear people saying this all the time and I said to myself, I'll never say something like that. So I'm not going to say it like that. But your assistance is needed in getting our message here out to other people who are searching the Google world for answers to problems. their life. So you and I can work together on that. Make a comment. You know what to do. Help us work together. That's what I'm asking. Okay. So let's talk about it. Why do women carry a purse? Before I get into that, I want you to know, number one, I'm not a woman. I don't carry a purse.

Okay. I have thought about it from time to time, but I was going to get a MERS, not a purse. The MERS is a man purse. When I go on my pilgrimages with Emily every January to the Holy Land, I have a mirse with me. But this doesn't mean that I am a no at all. You know, it doesn't mean I'm a no at all. I'm an observer. And I have observed that the vast majority of women carry a purse. I'm aware that my working conclusions are not exhaustive.

And I don't think every woman necessarily carries a purse. So you don't have to email and say, well, I don't carry a purse. Or, you know, be negative about that. Now, if I ask Emily the question, why do you need to carry that purse to the movie? Or why do you need to carry that purse to the park or whatever? Can't you just take your license and your credit card, stick it in your back pocket and call it a day? She will say that everything in her purse has a reason for being there. You ladies, you know what I'm talking about, right?

You would say that right to my face or any other guy's face. It all has a reason. It's there. this is a very meticulous and well-thought-out strategy of what goes into the purse. I'm sure it is. Pretty sure. So, men, I would encourage you to try this as an exercise in helping you to understand the meaning of the purse. Sometime this week, try carrying that 10-pound bag around everywhere, every day, every month, every year.

It's quite a feat, actually. Now, years ago, at the Minnesota State Fair, Emily went to this booth where the Marines were doing this contest, where you would do a pull-up and then you would have to keep in the pull-up position with your chin above the bar but not touching the bar and she broke the record now if she's only 102 pounds five foot two she broke the record how why i asked her she said well because i'm always carrying around kids in my arms and then she has that 10-pound weight around her shoulder so she has somewhat of an advantage over men in that she's been working out all these years with that purse. Now, a little bit about the origin of the purse. In the 18th century, women typically had on

their wardrobe, they had what were called detachable pockets. And they were worn inside of their petticoats and then they could access that pocket with a slit in the side of a coat or the clothing. And then the fashions began to change in the 19th century and there was less space to fit large pockets inside because it became more tight to the body. And so the upper class ladies started to carry these little small bags called reticules in addition to the tiny little pocket worn inside of their garment. And then so that was with the upper class. And then the regular working class people, they continued to use those large pockets inside. And then outside of their skirts, sometimes, you know, they would snap on. And they were useful for carrying all kinds

of little things, little things. So by the early 20th century, pockets had mostly gone out of fashion for the women's clothing. And most women would say today, well, I don't have pockets on my pants like you guys do. And so they started to carry around

larger and larger handbags. And that makes sense, right? And that would carry their cosmetics and so forth. Men didn't need to carry bags for everyday items at all. and they usually wore bigger coats and they had smaller items that they would carry around. So you don't need the rest of that history there.

But I wanted to give you that backdrop to understand this. And so today I see that purses are getting bigger and bigger and people are, ladies are pulling out of their purses, not just cosmetics and glasses and aspirins and things like that, but they're pulling out pets and computers and blenders and other. They're so big these days. So why do women carry a purse? Why do they? Well, the obvious answer there is that the clothing that women are wearing doesn't have the pockets that they used to. And it's not fashionable. Fair enough.

I get it. But listen to some of the things that are inside of a purse. And I have actually interviewed a couple of ladies to ask them about what goes on inside of a purse. In fact, I interviewed Kelly Walquist from Wine, Women in the New Evangelization. She added a couple of things. I didn't know. And I've talked to two or three other people, ladies, about their purses. And then the rest comes just by my skill in observing.

So they have things in their purse, like, for example, tissues. They have tissues in their purse. I do not carry tissues around with me. I'll just be honest with you. But women carry tissues. And they carry tissues because they are with children who sometimes need a tissue to cleanup or for tears or whatever it might be. Now, they also carry money.

They might have the credit cards or the cash or a purse with coins in it, although that's going out, isn't it? We used to always on summer vacation get those little leather purses you'd squeeze and it would open up and put your, you know, your coins in there to spend on vacation, but we don't have the coins as much anymore. They certainly have a pen for writing notes, and usually these notes are for their kids or a reminder of a grocery list, you may start seeing a pattern developing here

for things in a lady's purse. And I'll just give you the heads up on it as we're going to continue on and look inside of a lady's purse here. Typically, the things that are in a purse are for other people. They are for serving other people. They are for caring for other people.

Very interesting. I never thought of it quite like that, but it really is true. And so they have tissues for tears, money for extra milk at lunch. They have pens for writing notes and reminders to the kids or what to pick up on the way home. They have a safety pen. If you ever need a safety pen, just walk up to a lady with a person to say, do you mind if I have your safety pen and give me your address?

I'll send you another one. But they have a safety pin for what? Well, Doi, right? They, uh, uh, doya is Greek for, yeah. but they have a safety pen for like putting clothes together. You know, there's a rip in it or something. Or they've got to attach a note to a child or something. They have things like aspirin.

Everybody can get a headache. And so they have that. You know, Mom, I got a headache. All right, here. Take a baby aspirin. They have a cough drop or two. When I go out and speak, inevitably, somebody comes up to me if I'm coughing while I'm speaking, and during the break, I'll have seven or eight of these cough drops,

Luden cough drops, the cherry, those are the ones that I like, and there'll be a pile of them on the podium when I come back. And most of the time, they came from purses. They have a little sewing, a little sewing kit oftentimes. Why? Sowing a button on clothing. I don't carry that in my pocket. I don't have a sewing kit with me, and I don't plan on it, ever. But women have those in their purses, again, to serve other people. They might have a small bottle of water. Mom, I'm thirsty, you know? Again, serving others, caring for others. It's the nature of a woman to give and to love and to relate to other people. There's feminine hygiene, women are fruitful, and they give life. There's sunscreen. We're protecting our children these days from the

hazards of the sun. Women, mothers, are protectors. They really are. They're protectors. They have moisturizer. And you'll see them. Every once in a while, I'll just take that out. I can imitate it pretty good. They squirt that in their hand. They just rub their hands around. And while they're talking to someone, they're moisturizing their skin. They're keeping themselves healthy. They have a granola bar in there for the children complaining that they are hungry.

And of course, they've got cosmetics. I mean, I think that's where it began, actually. Don't correct me if I'm wrong because I'll just, I'll hear it from my wife. But cosmetics, let's face it, women are beautiful. They make changes throughout today. they tweak it throughout the day and they adorn themselves in this way and you know speaking of that just to remember what peter said in first peter chapter three verses one through four peter said likewise you wives be submissive to your husbands so that some though they do not obey the word may be one

without a word by the behavior of their wives when they see your reverent and chase behavior Let not yours be the outward adorning with braiding of hair, decoration of gold and wearing the fine clothing, but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable jewel of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very, very precious. So there's the whole cosmetic thing. Perfume.

I don't carry perfume around. There's photos of their children and their grandchildren. They might have a little flip folder. They're going to show people their line. their family, they love that. Men don't seem to think the same way. They got a fingernail file. Again, they're caring for others.

They carry purses mostly for you, for you. And by nature, they are nurturers. And men will often ask their wives if they could carry something of theirs in their purse. We go somewhere and I have my keys or whatever. Honey, can you put this in your? your purse during the play? Sure, I will. Now, I want to take a break and want to talk to you about the difference between men and women and what men carry. And we'll see a little bit about

who we are. And I think when we're done here, men, you're going to say, man, I see the purse is in totally new light. That's a beautiful thing. And hopefully women might say this about men. You're listening to the Jeff Kaven show. Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz. I want to let you know about an exciting announcement that could revolutionize the way you listen to the Bible in the air and the catechism in the year. Ascension has released a new Bible and Catechism app called the Ascension app. No, here's what you get. In this app, you get the entire text of the Great Adventure Bible. Just incredible. You also get the entire text of the catechism of the Catholic Church, as long with the

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the Catechism, kind of changed the way I read through the Bible. These features will help you navigate the Bible and Catechism even more seamlessly so you can get more out of your experience. Also, the app provides almost 1,000 answers to Bible questions. The people who listen to the Bible in the year, they wrote in with their questions. Almost 1,000 answers. And those answers come in the form of audio clips, video clips, as well as resources excerpted from some of Ascension's published works.

If you want to download this app for free, super simple. Just go to the app store and search for Ascension app. I am telling you, if learning about the Bible and the catechism is important to you, then this app will change your life. why carry a purse or why do women carry a purse and gave you a lot of things that are in the purse if you want you can email me the jeff caven show at ascensionpress.com that's the jeff cave and show at ascensionpress.com if you got more things you put in your purse maybe maps or something go ahead and tell me let's come up with the ultimate now there's one more thing

that women will have in their purse that i want to make a note of a rose A most Catholic women will have a rosary in their purse to pray. Now, a lot of men will have a rosary in their pocket. Usually not as ornate or beautiful, but they will carry one. And also, there may be holy cards or a medal or two in the purse. Isn't that beautiful? And sometimes men will carry one in their pocket. Okay, so let's look at men for a moment.

Men don't carry purses with them. but a lot of the men that I've talked to have said privately, I kind of wish we could because I get tired of carrying stuff or I'm carrying more and more. And today, let's face it, you got your smartphone with you now. That's got to go in the back pocket. You risk sitting on it and breaking it. And what else do we have?

Men have keys. You have that. You have the phone and you have keys. And you have your wallet. And you have your phone. and your keys and your wallet. Okay? So, now you know why men don't, right?

Because men have cargo pants. That's right. Cargo pants are a gift from God for men. And men have cargo pants instead of a purse. And so in their cargo pants, they can put things like their tactical flashlight, which if you get into darkness and all of a sudden the lights go out, man, they will, they come to the rescue. They'll protect you.

they've got their cargo pants flashlight. They have a multi-tool in a pocket in their cargo pants, a multi-tool. And that is, I have a couple of those around just looking right now. I don't typically carry it. I bought it because I thought I would use it, but I don't carry it. I need a merce. So you got the multi-tool or a pocket knife, maybe a little Swiss pocket knife, flashlight. Maybe a pen that doubles as a jabber. You know, you get into a tough situation,

break the window in your car. If your car goes into a lake and you start to sink, boom. And oh, you're such a renaissance man, Jeff. Oh, I'm prepared, honey. I'm prepared. You're lucky you're with me. And so, of course, I have my wallet. And here's the deal about men, all right? men do not carry the same things in their cargo pants that women carry in their purse because women are nurturers by and large. I know there's a lot more to it, please. But men tend to be protectors. They tend to be the one that watches over the fort and protects their family,

looks out for danger. They sit in the right place at the restaurant. Their back is not to the center of the room. Their back is on the wall. And they've got their tactical flag. They've got their multi-tool. They've got their pen that doubles as a jabber just in case. Of course, they have their wallet.

So those are some of the differences there. You notice that the men's list is much smaller than the women's. But I say all of this, in all seriousness, to draw the attention to the way that men see themselves and the way that women see themselves. And I think that it's a beautiful thing. And for me, when I see a purse now, or my wife says, I'm going to get a new purse, I'm like, that's great. Now, I used to say, what do you need another purse for?

You've got a purse. He says, yeah, but that one doesn't go with some of my outfits. Ah, the purse is a fashion statement, too. Yeah. well men choose their cargo pants well and that's a fashion statement as well so when you got a husband and a wife boyfriend and girlfriend walking down the road one has a purse one has cargo pants you are set for life now men put in your cargo pants the same thing that a woman might and that is the rosary and i would highly suggest that you carry a small bible in those cars

cargo pants. So you have something to read when you're out and about and you take a break. Well, believe it or not, that's what I wanted to share with you today. I just wanted to share with you a little bit about the beauty of a man and the beauty of a woman as they come together and even in how they carry their stuff, it says something. It really does say something. And that's why I don't have a son, I have son-in-laws now, a son-in-law now, and I have grandsons, but my three daughters, all of them, there came a point where they said, I need a purse. And they started to bring their purse to school. And the big thing was to leave your purse somewhere, you know. Men don't run into that quite as much unless they're taking their multi-tool out and just fooling.

with it while they talk to someone and they leave it somewhere. Anyway, so let's be happy with the difference between the two and let's learn something about it. And you know, you can use it as a teaching tool as well, not a multi-tool. You can use it as a teaching tool, ladies, you could literally sit down and talk to your daughters and your sons about why you are prepared for them, you nurture them, you're giving person. And you never know when someone's going to walk up and say, does anyone have a safety pen here? Does anyone have a pen and paper, whatever it might be? And men, believe me, your sons know

for sure. They're watching you. And they'll want a multi-tool. They'll want that tactical flashlight. And they'll want that pen that doubles as a jabber. And whatever else, you know, that true men carry. I don't consider myself to be a complete true man because I don't carry some of the things that people carry, but I'm trying. I'm trying. All right, my friend, I hope you do have a great week this week, and next week we're going to get back into some other theological point or some aspect of living our life as disciples. Love to pray for you in the name of the Father, and the Son, in the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus, I thank you today for giving us the supernatural life, eternal life and pray that we as men and women would both walk in our vocation

or married we'd walk in that and that we would give the best of ourselves i thank you lord for the nurturing aspect of women who care about other people and are thinking of other people constantly and i thank you lord for the men who protect their families and who are on this adventure of of protecting and providing and i pray lord that that the families will continue to grow and be nurtured. And I pray for the protection of the marriages of all my friends who are listening and their family. May they be who they are.

May they walk in all that the family is called to do. In Jesus' name, amen. Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Love you. Look forward to next week. Thank you.