WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - Strength & Dignity: Age, The Crown of Glory

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

Michaela compares modern culture's idea od success to the biblical understanding of age and wisdom. 

Hello and welcome back to Strength and Dignity. This is Michaela Estruth and you're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. So one thing about doing a weekly podcast during the summer before a November election and let's just say a summer that has been unprecedented with just news and headlines after headlines, it's really hard to try to do cultural commentary, especially. especially directed towards on femininity, on womanhood, anything, any of those discussions, and avoid the politics of election. And now it's even harder, given that one of the potential running mates, likely running

mates, Vice President Kamala Harris, she's a woman. And so all of Ms. Magazine, especially the articles, are on Kamala Harris and the differences between a middle-aged woman nominee and a elderly man, Trump nominee, and his running mate, who's a middle-aged man nominee vice president. And that's basically all that is on Ms. Magazine. And so I spent a while trying to figure out what to talk about. And one of the articles I decided all briefly discuss and address, but kind of take it a different direction than what they're going. So the article on Ms. Magazine is titled Kamala Harris is older, wiser, and cooler, which is really funny because I don't, I would not call Kamal Harris old. They say that she's a middle-aged woman. She's nearly 60, but also, that's not significantly old. My parents are both in their mid-50s, and I don't think that they're old. So first of all, that just kind of made me laugh. But their whole gig with this article is that Kamala Harris, while she's older, is teaching, women how to be a quote unquote older woman but still have a voice still be empowered still be

involved in politics and i'm honestly i think i'm entering a conversation that's been like decades long because i was very confused when i was reading the article why this was such a a big point to them and why well especially what they addressed they they kept talking about menopause and i think they are viewing menopause as like a sign of a woman entering leaving middle age and entering her elderly years perhaps but it was just kind of strange so that's what they dwelt on and kept using that language to discuss Kamala Harris's age so that was kind of weird but just beware the rabbit hole that you may go down if you go to look at this article and then see all the other articles that it links but besides that let's just get into the article see what it says and then I will go a

different avenue in terms of what the Bible says about quote-unquote older women, what their role is, and maybe what a measure of success is. And I think the measure of success in our cultural stance is extremely different, quite honestly opposite to what the Bible says. So the diving into the article, the author of this article writes, at nearly 60 years old, Harris has achieved what might have seemed impossible before this moment. She has changed the perception of what it looks and sounds like to be an exceptionally vibrant and eminently capable, quote, older woman, which is really interesting again, because I wouldn't necessarily say that she's that old. But to be fair, the average person who's in her mid to late 50s probably isn't running for president. I mean, I guess Hillary

Clinton did the same in 2016. And so I just don't, I don't understand their point of why this seems to be like a new phenomenon or a, you know, breaking ground. or something that's never been done before because it has. But that's besides the point, I guess. And they basically are just, I think what they're trying to do is Harper on what J.D. Vance said about Kamala Harris, which was not said in the nicest language. And if I'm remembering correctly, it was circled back from years ago. Like, it wasn't like he just said this, but he might have.

Just saying that she hasn't, she doesn't been a mom. And so she's a stepmom. she has stepchildren, but she herself has not been a mom. And so he was saying that that has a clear reflection on the way that she views politics, the way that she's involved in this country. And basically his claim is that people with children view everything differently. Once you have a child, your view of the world changes to an extent because you're protecting that child and you want them to grow up in a better world than the world that you're currently living in. And so a lot of the times the trend is that women actually grow more conservative the older that they get, especially after

having kids. So a woman in her early to mid-20s is not nearly as conservative as she will be 10 years later after having two to three kids or however many. And she's now a mom and she's in her mid-30s. And she just, she sees things differently. And that's the same for men. That's not just, to sexist, like discriminatory thing against women, having kids changes both men and women. And it makes you care and prioritize different things and be concerned about different things, perhaps even speak up about different things. If it's not directly affecting your child, because you don't have a child, you probably won't speak up about it. But if these policies are quite literally affecting your children, then you'll speak up about it. I mean, the most common

and obvious example is education and school choice. And parents who have, actually have kids in the education system care a lot more about that than even I do. I don't have any kids. And so I care about it. And I think it's a really important decision and something that needs to be talked about a lot more than it's given credit to it. And having been a young girl who went to a public school and then to a private school, I know the great difference is. And I, like, am already thinking about how that might affect my future children. But right now, I don't have any kids in any education system, and so I'm not practically making a decision about that. I think that's what J.D. Advantage's comment was in terms of targeting Kamala Harris, but a lot of

the article is spent kind of throwing dirt back on him and calling him sexist and being really frustrated about this comment. And to be fair, I don't think it was a comment that was said with explicit kindness, and it could have been said a lot better. But I think there is also legitimate perspective and truth behind that. Okay, so now jumping further down into the article when she talks about menopause, I quite literally don't know where it comes from. She just kind of mentions it and then all of a sudden we're talking about menopause, but she says, if menopause no longer means women hiding their true selves or pretending

to be a younger version of themselves, what does pretend for all of us? Beyond the benefits that come with the hard-earned credibility and respect we deserve, it can herald a new future for public policy and pop culture. Okay, so from what I'm gathering, the way that she's presenting her argument, she's basically saying, I think, that decades ago, before the sexual revolution, menopause was viewed as, not like a loss of woman, but like you've moved into a new stage of life. older stage of life because now women can no longer have children after menopause. And so they are elderly or just, just again, in a later season of life. And I don't mean to, like, I'm just presenting

this view of what they think was the view years ago, right, before the sexual revelation. And saying not necessarily that women weren't involved, but like, almost almost kind of like, okay, it's time to retire now. Like older people in general, not just women, just become less and less involved as they get older and older. And I think for, at least in this article, they were citing, she was citing menopause as, you know, the start to that decline and to a disengagement, not only with like being a mother or, you know, because the kids are out of the home or something, but just in general with society and with policy. And so now she's like, well, we're no longer hiding our true selves. We're no longer trying to conform to this idea that we have to run away once we get old. And she says, instead, we have vigor and we have credibility, and we should be involved in public policy and pop culture.

And she's honoring Kamala Harris for presenting that as an example of how a woman can be involved and how a woman can, you know, still have a lot. a lot of strength and a lot of involvement in her later years in life. And there's not even really much here to argue against because her argument doesn't make a lot of sense and it doesn't, again, it feels like every political issue is getting turned into an opportunity to rant and victimize women and, you know, just talk about how everything's awful and we're just still trying to get out of this cycle of oppression. or something like that, which is simply not true. That's just not how the world works, and that's not the case in society at all today. And so that's why it's kind of hard to talk

against this article because it doesn't even really seem like there's that much of an argument other than Kamala Harris is great because she's a woman and she's involved in politics, and women just because you're old doesn't mean that you're all that girl, like you should go get involved or something. I don't know. So anyways, I'm just laughing because I think it's kind of a petty thing to be arguing about. But that's just my opinion, which apparently I just give on this show now. So you're listening to Strengthen Dick Nandy. This is Michaela Estreys on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.

Today we're responding to a Ms. Magazine article, and it's specifically discussing Kamala Harris and how she is an example to older women who should stay involved and up to date and be an active voice in society and politics despite being in their latter half of life. But now that we've appropriately, I think, dissected that article that was honestly hard to dissect to get to a main point, I want to turn and say, okay, what does the Bible say about this? What does the Bible say about women in general and especially older women? And so I thought I would start with Proverbs 31 just because that's the name of the show, strength and dignity, which comes from Proverbs 31.

But this verse in particular is a few verses later. It says, it's Proverbs 31, 26, and it says she opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. So this verse 26 doesn't explicitly say that this woman is older, but as she's become a character throughout the chapter, she is evidently a mom and she has a household, she has children, and she's known in the gate, she's known in the town. So she's not, you know, a young woman of 20, 25. She's definitely has some years behind her and some experience behind her, some familiarity

that people know her and her children and she's raising them. And so we don't know how old she is. But that's not the point because I think it's just speaking about qualities of a good woman, not just, you know, one particular woman and a character and how old is she actually, right? So what I want to focus on is the terms wisdom and then the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. And I think that is truly such a gift that women have is to use their words to uplift and to be kind and to be encouraging not only a woman to her husband or a woman to her children, but also a woman to other women and especially younger women. And so that becomes evidently

more clear throughout the Bible's commentary on women and elderly women in the church. But women who use words to uplift. And I truly think that women have a gift with their tongue. I don't think that that's, you know, only to women and that men can't encourage. That's not what I'm saying. But as a woman, I know that women have the ability to be pretty nasty with their words and yet the beautiful ability to also uplift and build up and encourage and with their words as well. And it's a lot more likely that a woman will write a long card to her friend on

her birthday than a man to his friend, right? Like words are just not as utilized in a kind and uplifting way, at least from my observation. Not, again, not that men can't be kind and uplifting. They can't. But I don't think their go-to is like, I'm going to write a really long card. I'm also, I personally am shocking a woman of words. I love to use words to encourage others. And so I think it's really important that women can do that or should do that. And I just love Proverbs 31 verse 26 that she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. So I referenced the teaching of kindness. I also want to talk about wisdom because the Bible has a lot to say about wisdom. And I think sometimes people think that they have wisdom and they

don't, myself included for sure in that. But of course, the book of wisdom, Proverbs, has much to say about wisdom. And one thing, one quality that becomes apparent in Proverbs and in other books about wisdom is that wisdom takes time. The wise is a type of person that is developed over time, over years and years and years of experience. So, full honesty, I don't have much wisdom. I'm too young to have much wisdom. I can act wisely and I can take wise counsel and act on that, but I don't have much experience. So someone much older than me has likely much more wisdom. So the tie of wisdom to age is really important. And I think that is really clear in Proverbs 1631 where it says, gray hair is a crown of glory it is gained in a righteous life and so that is something that i really

want to focus on for the bible's view on age is that age isn't something to be ashamed of or frustrated with or you want to slow down or even as the argument from this article is saying that like oh once you get old you just check out and that's like the stereotype or something that's actually the complete opposite of what the Bible says. The Bible says the age is a crown of glory that you've reached a point in your life that you hopefully have lived righteously. And that means that you are a wise person who can give good and wise counsel to those younger than you. And I feel like that's what the article is honestly innately getting wrong.

And I'm not saying that it's wrong to be involved in politics in your mid-sixth or in your mid-50s to your 60s or you know I'm not commenting on that but what I'm saying is the idea that age should be this like restriction that we overcome like you go get it girl you you do all that you're great and um just I I don't really know how to explain it except for the fact that it the article seemed to be giving this like counter age argument saying like age isn't a restriction and you should still be young in a like cultural sense, that you're involved, that you know what's going on, that you are involved in pop culture even, things like that. That's just, that's not the biblical display of age.

The age is a crown of glory, that it is a good thing, and you can still pass on your wisdom and give counsel and still be involved. in your society, in your family, all of that, yes, but not in a, I'm unstoppable, I'm, you know, younger than I look or anything like that. Seems counterintuitive. So continuing on that, specifically applying it to women, a lot of people talk about Titus II. Titus II is a very famous chapter of the book of Titus, giving counsel to women for how older women should, it actually gives counsel to everyone. It gives counsel to the young men, to the older men, to the young men, to the older women, to the young women. But the particular verses that I'm looking at is Titus 2, 3 to 5. And it says,

older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands so that the word of God may not be reviled. So I love Titus too. I think it's a beautiful verse, beautiful couple verses. And I get really frustrated when people take it as an insult that women are supposed to teach younger women how to love and how to be self-controlled and how to, I think people get really frustrated with the verses working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands. But as I've hopefully made clear on the show, that is the biblical.

duty of a wife in the biblical design that God made between a man and a woman for a good, loving relationship. And so I think while it's hard, it's beautiful and that women ought to be teaching the ones behind them how to do that well. Because no one said that it's easy. And so young women need older women as an example to ask them, questions, to bring hard things to them, to ask for guidance. That's what older women ought to be doing is to be teaching them and to be instructing them. And that is, again, you are a crown of

glory on those women who truly just pour into the women behind them. And I can just think of so many examples. And age, again, is not a huge factor in this because I have women who are 10 years older than me to, you know, 40 years older than me or more and just the way that they, I get wisdom from all of them. And I guess I would speak specifically to young women at this point of take advantage of that, you know, get a coffee with a mom. If she, if she volunteers or offers and, or just even if you're babysitting and stick around and talk to the mom for another 10 minutes, you are gaining wisdom from her by watching her, by asking her questions, but even, you know, all the way up to, you 40 to 50 years older than you, all women have advice and counsel. And I can think of a woman,

a sweet woman that whenever I go home to Cincinnati, she comes up. She's much older in my church and she just always is so kind and greets me and has just the kindest things to say about the Lord's faithfulness and that she's praying for me. And I would just say that those things are not unnoticed and that they are not a waste of time or something to just brush off and say like that's not the duty of being old. But I think it really is. I think it's a gift and it's special. And so it ought to be done. And so, yeah, finally, adding a verse to that, 1-Peter 5-5, it instructs the young, and it says, Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. And I think it's really often young people.

can be extremely prideful and think they have it all together and they don't and they need some humility. I'm speaking directly to myself at this. You need some humility and the ability to listen to your elders to be subject to them to take their advice and to consider what they have to say because God gives grace to the humble. So finally, since we're talking about age, I will close with the the very familiar verse of Proverbs 31, 29 to 2030, which says that it speaks directly against vanity of looks, that charm is deceitful, it says, and beauty is vain. So it's fading, and that's okay, because again, like we've said, gray hair is a crown of glory. So let's close with those verses. Many women have done excellently, but used to surpass them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Thanks for listening to Strength and Dignity. I'm Akila Estruth, and you're listening to Radio Free Hillsdale 101.1.7 FM.