International Women's Day 2026

 Today, March 8, 2026 is International Women's Day.  (It's also the day where we loose an hour due to Daylight Saving Time, which definitely tracks.)  It's also a Sunday.  In honor of the day, the church I attend in the Poconos asked for volunteers to read a specific scripture lesson and then offer a reflection. I actually enjoy public speaking (although I do get nervous) and volunteered, even though I still consider myself a "newbie".

 While the request was to envision yourself in the story, I went a bit of track.  (I have a difficult time putting myself in the narrative when it comes to the Bible.)  I guess I'm a bit of rebel?  Well, at least I kept it short (which I am sure most people are grateful for). 

The passage I read was from 1 Kings 17:8-16:

 "Then the word of the Lord came to him,  “Arise, go to Zar′ephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”  So he arose and went to Zar′ephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.”  And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”  And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a cruse; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”  And Eli′jah said to her, “Fear not; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son.  For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the cruse of oil shall not fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’”  And she went and did as Eli′jah said; and she, and he, and her household ate for many days.  The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Eli′jah."

My take/thoughts?  

It’s the same old story, one we have heard so many times. An unnamed woman is out there working and a man comes and asks her for something.  The woman, of course, being the nurturer, goes to do what is asked, even though he is a stranger to her.  And as she’s doing just that, he asks for more.  Is there a woman out there who can say they don’t identify with this?

I feel this woman.  She is out working, doing what she must for her family.  She must be tired.  She’s probably exhausted  and yet this man asks her for a drink.  She asks no questions, she just does. She acts as women have for centuries. Nurturing is ingrained in her, as it is for many of us.  And only when she is asked for even more,  does she even reveal how little she has.  Although perhaps that was obvious to Elijah.

Does she believe Elijah when he tells her that if she makes him something to eat that she will have nothing to fear and there will be enough for her and her son to eat?  I know I would not. It seems incredulous.  But I’d like to think, that like the widow, I would go and do so anyway.  Because women, and while I can’t speak for all I do think I can speak for many, when someone is thirsty or hungry, we do what we can to feed them. 

Just like the widow, we are the unnamed women.  We are the original Matthew 25-ers.  We feed the hungry, cloth the poor, care for the sick and visit the imprisoned.  We do it for those we know; and for those we don’t.  For the most part our names are unknown.  They are not carved on a wall of stone or recorded for posterity.

For every named woman in the Bible, for every named woman in history, there are hundreds, thousands more out there.  Women doing.  Women supporting.  Women acting.  Voices often unheard, but not silenced.

Thousands of years after Elijah asked the unnamed widow for food and drink, we are still feeding and caring for those in need.  For the most part, we are still unknown and unacknowledged.  But that doesn’t stop us.  It never did and it never will.  And while it would be nice to be acknowledged, that’s not why we do what we do.  We don’t do it for glory, we do it because it is the right thing to do.  It’s what from the beginning of time, God has asked us to do; care and nurture all that share this planet with us.  So we do.  And will continue to do because that’s who we are.