The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1961-08-25
Business Woman
Lesson for August n, 1861

The woman known to history
only as Lydia" is unique among
the women of the Bible. We hear
nothing at all about her family.
She was a business woman, en-
gagged in selling the purple dye
which was so fashionable in an
Gent times. She was presumably
successful; we can guess this be-
cause the kind of thing she sold
suggests customers in the upper
brackets; but also because she
owned a home of her own, no
economy flat but a house big
enough to entertain quite party
of missionaries. Even before she
became a Christian she was a
praying woman, and a leader of
other women. Presumably she
had brains and charm, an ad-
woman.
The Freedom Of Women
What makes Lydia a stand-out
is not that she becamd a Chris
tian: the New Testament abounds
in stories of people who became
Christians. Nor yet that she was
a woman. for many women we're
believers, from the very begin
ming. She stands out because of
her independence of life. Women
in Palestine always belonged"
to someone, as was true in most
ancient cultures. But around the
Aegean Sea Women had more
freedom. No one thought Lydia
peculiar for her independent way
of life.
1t may seem strange that it
took so long for the world to dis
cover what Lydia knew very
well; that it is no disgrace for a
woman to branch out for herslef
in a mans world. This writer is
personally acquainted with the
first woman ever to graduate
from a school of medicine in a
certain state. In a small country
churchyard in North Carolina
there is a grave with the strange
inscription on the tombstone:
SEE. Mount Holyoke Graduate
1845. The lady whose body was
laid there was more proud Of be-
ing a college graduate in 1845
than she was of her own name.
You see it has not been long
since even In this "Christian"
country a woman braved a good
deal of ridicule and opposition
when she branched out for her
self. People should have read
Lydia's story in Acts.
The Wealth and Power of Women
1t is a commonplace obser-
walton, even If somewhat ex-
aggerated. that women are the
wealthy sex. Besides all the
money they control in their own
right, they are the great spenders
and this is not intended in a
mean way. A visit to the super
market or the department store
will show who spends the family
money. The men must believe
that their women have good judg-
ment. otherwise they would lock
up the family checkbook. Women
are probably far more powerful,
as a sex, than men. If we ever
really have peace, it will not be
until women stand up and de-
mand it. If our churches ever
really shoulder the responsibility
for evangelizing the world, it
will not be until the women
really put their energies into
missionary work.
A Long Line
There are some aspects Of life
in which most women outshine
most men, and one of these is
personalizing good works. A man
will write you check for your
orphanage; but a woman wants
to see the orphans. A man will
recommend you to good hotel,
but a woman will invite you to
her home. That was Lydia: she
did not say to her distinguished
visitor: Sir, l wish you and your
companions pleasant stay in
Philippi. She did indeed wish
that; but she did better, she went
to some trouble to see that they
were well treated, she invited the
whole party to her own home.
Lydia was among the first in a
long line of women who have
given active personal encourage
ment to the church and its lead
ers. When you think of the host
eSSeS, councillors. administra-
tors, persuaders, teachers and
benefactors financially and other
wise, in the church today, who
are women. we may well wonder
what the church would have
been. had women been shut out!
BASED on outlines copyrighted
by the Division Of Christian Edu.
cation, National Council Of the
Churches Of Christ in the U. S. A.
Released by Community Press
Service.)
Willing
shes a new girl with US and