Friday, April 2, 2010

The Men of the Matriarchs

The bravest men in the world are those who remain married to matriarchs. They are not only subject to the displeasure of “She Who Will Be Obeyed,” they also have to put up with confusion of, and possibly ridicule from their peers.

A matriarch is a woman who will stand up to anyone – sometimes even her Creator—when her loved ones are threatened; she is definitely a force with whom to be reckoned. The bravest among their men know how to “batten down the hatches” when the hurricanes start brewing with those steamy tropical depressions and duck and cover when the volcanoes start to rumble. They realize that when the skies have cleared or the earth-scorching is complete, new life will emerge, probably more vibrant than the last. These are the real heroes that you read about in fairytales.

If “She Who Will Be Obeyed,” deems it necessary to slay dragons, the real hero will sharpen his sword, swallow his fear, and head out – with or without a trusty steed or fellow warriors. Many brave men are vanquished that way, as they may not have the kind of friends who are brave enough to be their posse.

It is very important that the “Queens of the Universe” encourage and allow their knights to develop a round table of like-minded men; otherwise, they will continue to lose all the good, brave men who are their only hope of having a protective perimeter around their women’s circles that are formed around the crops and the kids.

It is true that there are many men who are better at doing the heavy lifting around the homeplace, entertaining the offspring, and teaching the trades than their women. It is also true that there are many warrior women in the matriarchal matrix. We must be able to join hands, focus on the fights which are important on a world-wide basis, and start circling the wagons, lifting our voices in songs of gratitude, community, and hope; all the while lifting our hands in earth-enriching partnerships with our Creator and all of creation.

We in Coker Creek have our forested land, our clean water coming from our springs pouring out of the sides of the mountains, our manure and loam-rich soil, and our neighbors who live by the values of faith, family, friends, and fun. We even have local honey bees and milk cows living off the fat of the land and leaking their gifts all over it – there for the taking, if we only care to collect our share. I don’t know how you get much closer to the Land of Milk and Honey where manna falls from the skies.

Every one of us can grab a hoe, a plow, a pot, a spoon, a chain saw, or a hammer and work side-by-side with all our fellow travelers to create a better place for not only our local neighbors, but all who want to come and taste the goodness of Creation here in Coker Creek. If we women want it, and our men think it’s good, nothing can stop us from expanding out like our ancestors did. We are, after all, at an intersection of one of the greatest and earliest trade routes in North America.

Now if we only had a bigger table…and a round one, at that.