Research shows that when humans experience awe - wonderment at redwoods or rainbows, Rembrandt or Rachmaninoff - we become less individualistic, less self-focused, less materialistic, more connected to those around us. “Our primary problem as Christian women is not that we lack self-worth. I’m not judging mom and dad - I’ve been on vacation with young children myself - but the irony of the image was compelling. I can still see the eight-year-old playing a video game while his parents took in the view. Towering and ancient, they reminded us of our smallness.

Walking its paths, we halted, slack-jawed, to gaze up at 250-foot redwoods that had stood since the signing of the Magna Carta. On a recent visit to San Francisco, my husband and I had the chance to hike Muir Woods.

Our primary problem as Christian women is not that we lack self-worth, not that we lack a sense of significance or purpose. As long as we keep the emphasis on us instead of on a higher vision, we will take small comfort from discussions of identity - and we will see little lasting change. I believe it is because we have misdiagnosed our primary problem. But based on how frequently I hear it offered, I suspect the message may not be “sticking to our ribs” very well. We ask it to bolster us when our limits weigh us down. Christian women ask Psalm 139:14 to soothe us when our body image falters, or when we just don’t feel that smart, valuable, or capable. It could have been just about any women’s event, with just about any typical speaker. One after another, all three keynote speakers took us to Psalm 139:14, urging us to see ourselves the way God sees us, as fearfully and wonderfully made. Recently I attended a women’s conference at which this message predictably took center stage. If we just understood who we are - the message goes - we would turn from our sin patterns and our spiritual low self-esteem and experience the abundant life of which Jesus spoke. Retreats, conferences, and topical Bible studies rush to assure us that we are redeemed and treasured, that our lives have purpose, that our actions carry eternal significance. If you’ve spent much time in Christian women’s circles, you may have noticed that we have devoted many gatherings to exploring our identity.

Women of the word by jen wilkin