A Virtuous Woman- Reconstructed

After far too much thought and some good discussion with friends, I think I've come up with my definition of a virtuous woman. Ironically, I only just now googled it and found all kinds of definitions, but true to myself, I've had to go about it on my own in order to internalize it. . I may be coming full circle in my thoughts- returning to what I've always known, but there's something about taking apart and exploring the inner workings of an idea- and then putting it back together again. Much like my dissection of Santa Claus, I understand better why I do what I do, or believe what I believe. It's part of my ongoing effort to live deliberately.


Here's my reconstructed definition:

A virtuous woman is one who is devoted to the nourishment, growth and education of others. She is a woman of vision and purpose who seeks the will of God for her and sees with her heart to meet the needs of the present moment.

If you're as interested as I am in what it means to be a virtuous woman, I enjoyed reading this expanded definition, based on a study of Proverbs, here. This is one man's domestic interpretation and literal analysis of Proverbs. Obviously, it's important to see the principles behind the examples in order to apply it to our own lives.

When I imagine a virtuous woman personified, I think of Marmee (Little Women) and Little Amy Dorrit. Of Anne Elliot (Persuasion) and Molly Gibson (Wives and Daughters.) Of Ruth and of Mary. And of all the women in my life who have mothered me.

And I think of this woman, described in C.S. Lewis' The Great Divorce:

Motherhood
of a different kind

Only partly do I remember the unbearable beauty of her face. 'Is it?... Is it?' I whispered to my guide.

'Not at all,' said he. 'It's someone ye'll never have heard of. Her name on earth was Sarah Smith and she lived at Golden Green.'

'She seems to be... well, a person of particular importance?'

'Aye. She is one of the great ones. Ye have heard that fame in [heaven] and fame on Earth are two quite different things.' ...

'And who are all these young men and women on each side?'

'They are her sons and daughters.'

'She must have had a very large family, Sir.'

'Every young man or boy that met her became her son - even if it was only the boy that brought the meat to her back door. Every girl that met her was her daughter.'

'Isn't that a bit hard on their own parents?'

'No. There are those that steal other people's children. But her motherhood was of a different kind. Those on whom it fell went back to their natural parents loving them more. Few men looked on her without becoming, in a certain fashion, her lovers. But it was the kind of love that made them not less true, but truer, to their own wives... It is like when you throw a stone into a pool and the concentric waves spread out further and further. Who knows where it will end? ... But already there is joy enough in the little finger of a great saint such as yonder lady to waken all the dead things of the universe into life.'

This, to me, is a Virtuous Woman.