Womanhood
By Jenny Komenda
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.”
Ephesians 2:10
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Dallin H. Oaks has taught that “the gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.” God’s plan for all of us is progression and becoming more like Him. As in the original Creation, this work occurs in stages, and each stage is called good. For women, there is a map for this ongoing process of creation and becoming that we see subtly reflected in both myth and scripture: the progression from Maiden to Mother to Matriarch.
The Maiden asks, Who am I becoming? What is true? What is good? Her season is one of discovery, agency and consecrated choice. In learning what she loves and believes, she looks to women further along the path. Her defining moment is a costly yes: a consecrated choice made without knowing all that lies ahead. In scripture she is Rebekah leaving home for an unknown future, Ruth declaring, “Whither thou goest, I will go,” Esther stepping forward “for such a time as this,” and Mary answering the angel, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.”
The Mother asks, What will I create, sustain, and sacrifice for? Her work is to bring forth life, nurture it, and give of herself to sustain it. Although this often entails the literal bearing and raising of children, the generative love and sacrifice associated with the season of Motherhood encapsulates an even broader work. Eve was called “the mother of all living” before she ever bore a child. It is Eve, Jochebed, Hannah, the widow of Zarephath and Mary. This season often brings a disorienting loss of the former self. But as Christ taught, we must lose our life to find it. Ultimately, this era reflects a life enlarged through generative love—creating and sustaining faith, beauty, relationships, families and communities.
Finally, the Matriarch asks, How can what life has formed in me become a blessing to others? Her work is wisdom, spiritual authority, and legacy. Like Deborah, Naomi, Elizabeth, Anna, Lois and Eunice, she carries the gifts of every earlier season and turns her accumulated experience and tested faith outward, steadily guiding and blessing those coming behind her and pointing them toward the Savior and “further up and further in” on the Covenant Path.
And we need one another in every season. We can give the Maiden room to explore and discern while pointing her toward Christ, and trusting deeply that “mortality works.” We can witness the Mother’s often-unseen sacrifices, her undoing and renewal, help her name them with compassion and then strengthen her when the work feels heavy. We can seek out the Matriarch, listen to her stories, honor her wisdom, and receive what she is ready to bestow. And as Matriarchs, we can serve without solving every problem, pray fervently for those coming behind us, give generous encouragement and tell our story.
Most importantly, Jesus Christ is woven into every one of these phases of Womanhood. He is the enabling power that allows us to surrender, to create, to become and to make the Costly Yes choice in every phase. We know from the Bible that the veil of the temple is a symbol for Christ (Heb. 10:19), as He is the connecting veil here. Through the enabling power of His atonement, He binds our hearts to each other and to Him.
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