Cord Byrd: “Walt Whitman said that man is a great thing upon the Earth and through eternity but that every jot of the greatness of…”

“Walt Whitman said that man is a great thing upon the Earth and through eternity but that every jot of the greatness of man is enfolded out of woman. Shakespeare, in King Lear, tells us that 'Women will all turn monsters.' In the book of Genesis, however, we are told that God, seeing the incompleteness of man standing alone, wanted to find a helper for him. And so God created this helper--Eve--whose name means 'Life,' and God created Eve from the rib of Adam himself. The symbolism of the rib is that it was taken from the place nearest to Adam's heart, thus indicating the close relationship of man and woman. The real essence of the story is that man and woman were made for each other, that woman is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. In the Genesis account, Eve is elevated to Ethereal beauty and lofty dignity. Milton, in his 'Paradise Lost,' has called her Queen of the Universe and fairest of the fair. Throughout all the ages of mankind's existence on this Earth, some of the most vivid personalities have been those of women--such as Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Mary, the Mother of Jesus--even with such women as Jezebel and Potiphar's wife.”