Women of Virtue

Today in Sunday School we talked about women of virtue, specifically Ruth and Hannah. We talked about how powerful of a force women have in the world. The world so desperately needs women of virtue.

Last week I watched a documentary on street children who live in a metro station in Bucharest. All these children grew up without the guidance of mothers, and most of them had also been beaten by whoever their caretakers were. That's why they ran away from their institutions and/or homes. They are all extraordinarily messed up. I'm sure that if I was as deprived of care as they were, I would be just as messed up as they are.

Upon being asked whether he liked to live in the metro station, one of the children, Mihai, age 12, said something to the extent of, "This life is not good. No one is here to teach me. I need someone to teach me." Another child, Macarena, age 16, who was probably the most addicted to paint out of all of them, said to one of the social workers questioningly, "I must have parents, too, right? I have a mommy and a daddy, too? But I just don't know them?" as though it was an idea that had just dawned on her, but she doubted whether it was true.

The results of growing up without a mother's love (or the knowledge of a mother's love, for those whose mothers have died) are tragic. I don't fully comprehend or appreciate the unending rippling positive effects that continue in my life because I was raised by loving parents. It's amazing to me that virtuous women, especially virtuous mothers, are so downplayed, and even degraded, by our society. Because without them, our world would be full of dysfunctional people.

One day last semester during a research meeting in which Heather Stay and I started feeling overwhelmed by the social problems we were studying, we asked Renata, "What can we do?" And her reply was, "Raise good kids." This is the conclusion of a woman who has studied social problems all her life. Truly, the world relies on virtuous women for its social health.

So today I just want to send a shout-out to all those amazing women who read this. For raising children in love, for being virtuous women. You are the source of so much happiness in my life, and you are the source of all the good things in the future!!