Sugar and Spice
/Man + Woman doesn't make two, it makes one.
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Remember the old schoolyard verse about what boys and girls are made of. For the girls it was 'Sugar and spice and everything nice". For the boys it was "Snips and snails and puppy dog tails". I was put-off by the puppy dog tails. I had no idea what a snip might be.
Sugar and spice did seem about right for the girls, they were pretty nice.
They still are.
Boys are inclined to bruises. Girls are inclined to kiss it better.
Both inclinations are just as intended. God recognized in making Adam that something was missing. That's why He made Eve. God intended Man and Woman to cleave together as one flesh. And so they should.
Man + Woman doesn't make two, it makes one - one fully realized human being. The tug and pull of their differences expose opportunities that neither alone would ever notice. Both men and women are made better when they learn the value of the other sex's point-of view.
Harmony adds breadth to even the most interesting single note.
Boys push, girls hug - boys acquire, girls maintain - boys provoke, girls soothe. That is the nature to which they were born. Neither is right, neither is wrong. Everything has its season; a time to reap, a time to sow.
Deciding which time is right for right now is easier to choose when both sides bring their inherently different sensibilities to the deciding.
Without Eve's gentle nature, civilization might not have been possible. Without Adam's forceful nature, civilization might not be sustainable.
In the old song about Reuben and Rachel each wonders if it wouldn't be better if the opposite sex were all transported, "far beyond the northern sea". The last verse concludes that the men would follow after the girls like, "a swarm of bumblebees", and the girls would follow after the men like, "swarm of honeybees".
Just so, and a good thing too.
I appreciate the many ladies who have added grace and beauty to my life. I appreciate the insight of these same ladies which helped me see much more than I would otherwise have seen. I imagine a whole lot of men agree. I hope the ladies feel as kindly about the men.
Life is hard to chew. Sometimes you need a knife. Sugar and spice makes it tase better.
I'm grateful for the blessing of the other.
By K. L. Shipley
Website: https://www.eclecticessays.com