Something Old - Dianne L. Christner [85]
“Nope.”
Making a dramatic gesture with her occupationally chafed hands, she made a winning move. Lil let out a moan and paused to write down her points. Then they turned all the colored dots over until the pile was plain ivory and worked to shuffle the pieces. “What number are we on?” Lil asked.
“Three. I’ve got it.” They kept their peace while lining up their dominos, and then Katy gave Lil a wry grin. “You’re right. It’s really hard for me not to preach. But you set me up with such lovely opportunities all the time. Speaking of, what did you think of Brother Troyer’s sermon? Are you going to be submissive when you get married?”
“Ah, the awful S word. You did hear him say that men and women are equal? One’s not superior over the other?”
Katy nodded. “He was talking out of both sides of his mouth, ‘cause in the next breath, he implied that the husband was in charge.” She knew that her own mom showed deference to her dad in a lot of ways and that Lil’s folks had modeled the same type of marriage, but she couldn’t picture Lil settling for that type of arrangement. And to be honest, she had to wonder if she could settle for it, either.
Lil thoughtfully tapped a domino on the table. “I like what he said about it being purely an order issue. Adam was made first to reflect God’s glory. Then woman next, to reflect man’s glory.”
“Glorious man,” Katy taunted, and Lil burst into giggles. Then Katy pushed back from the table and stared out the window. “Seriously, I don’t get the glory thing.”
Lil glanced out the window and back. “You agree that God’s creation shows His greatness?”
“Sure. Nature draws me to God.”
Lil explained, “Man’s the highest of his creation. When a man shows honor to somebody, he removes his hat. So Adam worships with his head uncovered. But mankind sinned. When Adam and Eve sinned, what did they do?”
Katy shrugged. “Hid and covered themselves with fig leaves.”
Lil pointed to her own covering. “So when woman wears a head covering, it’s a symbol of mankind’s fall.”
Inadvertently, Katy touched her own covering. “Wow. What a spiritual picture.”
“For the angels to witness.”
Katy felt drawn to Lil’s depiction of equality. “So what about the angels?”
Lil shrugged. “Honestly? I don’t know. I’m not that smart.”
Katy would have laughed if it wasn’t such a crucial topic. “So it’s not just about the woman submitting to her husband?”
“If it were, only married women would wear it.”
Katy demanded, “How do you know all this?”
“Duh? Brother Troyer preached it today. Weren’t you even listening? Sometimes I get the impression you think I’m totally lost and going to hell or something.”
“Lil! Don’t say that. Of course I don’t think that.” Katy felt contrite. “But I did think you’d be happy to ditch the covering.”
“Not really. At work, but not at church. The important thing is that the church doesn’t split apart over it.”
Katy hoped for more than peace. She hoped nothing would change. Since their big argument, Lil had seemed softer, more sensitive toward spiritual things than Katy had given her credit for, and yet she couldn’t picture Lil taking a submissive role. “So back to the S word. You going to submit to your husband?”
“I’m hoping to find a man who’ll welcome my opinions, but right now I can’t even find a man.” She pushed back her chair. “I think we need a hot chocolate perk or we’re never going to finish this game. And I need that newspaper.” She started the teakettle, then returned to the table. “Since you’ve got two guys fighting over you, the S word seems to be more your problem than mine.”
Katy cringed. She didn’t like the idea of submission. Thunder cracked, and she glanced out the window at the dark sky, considering God.
When Lil returned to the table with two steaming cups, she placed one in front of Katy. “Just take your time with Jake. I don’t want to lose you as a roommate.”
After the game was finished, they left to get Lil’s newspaper. While they drove, they discussed the benefits of Katy getting