Seven Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas

My non-fiction read for September was a biography anthology called Seven Women: And the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas. I had this book recommended to me, and I hadn't read a biography in a while so I thought I'd check it out. I'm not a huge biography person, but since these were short I figured I could probably handle it. I'm glad I did.

This book gives a brief biography on seven women: Joan of Arc, Susanna Wesley, Hannah More, Maria Skobtsova, Corrie ten Boom, Rosa Parks, and Mother Teresa. The person that I probably knew the most about was Corrie ten Boom since I had read (and reviewed) The Hiding Place earlier this year. I had at least heard of most of these women, but it was interesting to learn more about their stories and how their faiths influenced them. At the beginning of the book Metaxas talks about how he chose each of these women to write about. As a woman in a very male-dominated field, I don't necessarily agree with everything he says, but I liked how he put this statement. "When I consider the seven women I chose, I see that most of them were great for reasons that derive precisely from their being women, not in spite of it; and what made them great has nothing to do with their being measured against or competing with men." They used their God-given femininity to accomplish amazing things for His kingdom.

I will admit, I had a difficult time connecting to some of the women in this book. Joan of Arc for example. Her experience was so "other" that while I found it interesting, I also felt pretty removed from it. I would say the same about Susanna Wesley. I can't really relate to having that many kids or even her style of parenting. And while I do think she was great in her own right, and not just because of her famous sons Charles and John Wesley, there wasn't a lot that really stood out to me. However, I think everyone can learn about standing against social injustice from the other five women. Hannah More stood against slavery in Europe. Maria Skobtsova was a radical orthodox nun who loved on refugees, including Jews during WWII, which eventually led to her death in a concentration camp. Corrie ten Boom also stood against the Nazis and was sent to a concentration camp, but her life after the war is a shining example of forgiveness. Rosa Parks, as we know, risked her life and stood up against institutional racism. And Mother Teresa of course stood up for the "least of these" by living with the very people she served. I think there are incredible lessons to be learned from these women because of the relevance of their stories in the society we currently live in. They stood up for those who had no voice. And only one of those women, Rosa Parks, was even part of the voiceless minority she defended. What an incredible challenge for us to step out of our comfort zones and be the hands and feet of Jesus.

So, all that to say, if you are looking for short stories of some incredible women and maybe you don't have the time (or desire) to invest in a full-length biography, this could be a great option for you. These women displayed qualities that I can point out to my own daughters. These are women who lived out their faith in remarkable ways.