SENTINEL WATCH October 28, 2002 Issue

'Let the male and female of God's creating appear'

By Marilyn Jones

The conference this month in Geneva, Switzerland, the Global Peace Initiative of Women Religious and Spiritual Leaders, marks an important step toward the world's acknowledgement of the qualities women have to offer in developing a more balanced perspective in the pursuit of peace.

Over the centuries, women have played important roles in peace and in war. For example, in the earliest known extant poem in English, Beowulf, which tells the epic story of a Scandinavian warrior in the sixth century, the king's daughter, Freawaru, is given in marriage to Ingeld, a prince from a warring enemy. She is called a "peace weaver," and though she does not have her own power, that name indicates she embodies the actual joining of two previously warring entities in a peaceful settlement.

Throughout history, women have been freedom fighters, actually participating in struggles of liberation. Even in the Bible there are instances of women, such as Judith and Esther, playing significant roles in saving their people. Yet in most instances, when the smoke of battle clears, these female heroes are assimilated back into traditional female roles.

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