Recently,we had the pleasure of a visit from Susan, Fr. Tyler and one of the seminarians, Nathan.  They are all super smart.

No, really.

We – and by “we” I mean everyone but me – spent a large chunk of time trying to decide what the term ‘nature’ really refered to in one of St. Paul’s letters.  We had numerous books out and even the scriptures in Greek on the computer, I kid you not. Very intense.

At one point, we were trying to figure out what went/is wrong with women.  They long for and grasp at power, Susan and I declared.  (Don’t worry, we weren’t talking about you, ladies, but about us.)  And the problem with that is that it makes men lazy.  “The wife is the queen of the home but the slave of the workforce.” Nathan pronounced.  Amen! I said.

We dug deeper.

How does it make men lazy?  Men see the base requirement and fulfill it.  (This was put forth by the men present, by the way.)  Women, on the other hand, don’t expect or ask more of men. In addition, they see the whole picture and all of the details to take care of and get it done.  It is who she was made to be.

“Why is that?” Susan asked.  Her mothering instinct, her relational nature, her feminine genius – all of these were held up and examined and declared good.  We laughed together thinking of our own personal experiences of men’s “focused” thinking and the women who make things right – for better or worse.

So this conversatioon was fresh in my mind today as we unloaded the car.  Max was running circles around the van and up and down the sidewalk.

“Man!  I have soooo much energy, I could run around the block!”

Meanwhile, his sister and I struggled to haul grocery bags into the house.  He had just come from the store and yet seemed oblivious to us needing any assistance.  He was clueless about what needed to be done.  Tess, on the other hand, had been asleep when we left and upon coming outside asked if she could help.

And that is the difference.

It should be noted that Jac had carried half the load up the steps in one trip. Let the record show that he was not – in that moment – clueless.