Dancing in my ruby slippers
"Why shouldn’t we work alongside Jesus to restore men and women to harmonious partnership with one another? Is it because it’s completely impossible, or is it because we don’t realize that Christ wants to help?" (from Ruby Slippers)
I hope you’ve enjoyed this four-part interview series with Jonalyn Grace Fincher, author of Ruby Slippers. She truly is one of the brightest, sharpest, and most fearless voices speaking into the ongoing
discussion about what it means to be a Christian and a woman. In January, one of the pastor’s wives at my church will be leading a four-week small group study on Ruby Slippers; Jonalyn has crafted some good
discussion questions for the end of each chapter. If you happen to live in CA’s East Bay Area and you’re interested, we’d love to have you! For more info, just send me an e-mail at susyflory@3crosses.org. Now, here’s the last of my interview with Jonalyn….
Q. You said something in chapter 8
of Ruby Slippers that I have never
heard before: “When Paul said there is neither black nor white, upper or lower
class, male or female, he distinguishes himself as the first person in the
history of our planet’s literature to argue that all human beings are equal.”
Wow! That statement floored me. I think we forget how revolutionary Jesus and
his ideas were. With Paul’s statement in mind, how can we Christian women live
out this revolutionary idea in a godly, gentle, and mature way without ruffling
feathers in our marriages and churches?
A. I’m glad gentleness does not
mean we stop thinking, speaking or writing. Gentleness means we know that our
dignity and value is not hinged on people understanding or even respecting
us. We can be gentle and fierce. We can be gentle and silent. Our gentleness
must be guided by God’s wisdom.
God has recently shown me that
the best way to live out this revolutionary idea is to value the women
in our
lives we don’t get, women who feel distant or are so easy to dislike or even
hate. I’ve found that the worst enemy
of women is often women. We need to
battle our prejudice against our own sex first.
Knowing, valuing and loving women
has become my first order of business. If I don’t like women or if I don’t
trust women, how can I expect to love all those so different from me. I must
first make peace with who I am, with my own ethnicity, my socio-economic
statues, my gender before I can embrace those who are different from me. We must live as if all people are equal
souls, even if they’re the types we used to love to hate.
Q. What’s next for you Jonalyn? Is
there another book in the works, I hope?
A. I’m glad you want to read more.
That’s so encouraging!
I want to write
about women’s
tendency to pre-judge one another before valuing them. I’ve been
around
too
many women who are threatened by me and who shut the doors of
legitimacy or
support in my face because I’m too young, too thin, too articulate, too
inexperienced, too whatever. I don’t
fit the
kind of woman they want to meet and support. That’s a problem
in them, but it’s also a problem in me. I have that same sort of
tendency to
pre-judge those who are different, the disabled woman, the single
woman, the
pastor’s wives, the perfect homemakers, the models, the old women, the
young teeny-boppers,
the missionaries, the house-keepers. It’s time for me to write and grow
into seeing how God values all of
them.
So the next book project is about
meeting these women we love to hate, getting to know why we hate them and how
we can move into respect and love. The working title is Walking in Her Shoes. I’m
excited to walk with God into this new territory.
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SUSY FLORY is a writer, speaker, and journalist who inspires and challenges women to embrace a life of passion, boldness, & adventure. In your own unique way, YOU can change the world, starting in your own backyard. 
Yep–for a guy with such a go-getter attitude to have that kind of spiritual awareness is a great strength in itself.
Cat