”Every wise woman buildeth her house: But the foolish plucketh it down with her hands.“
Proverbs 14:1
Imagine a Woman has moved out of her old place and into a new space. She has the opportunity to mold her new home and fashion it into something that pleases her. This can change throughout time as what pleases her is modified. A new impression, a new direction, a new hope, a different need; the space is a reflection of her.
This is true of a physical living space, an emotional space, relational spaces and the space inside her heart. The wise Woman is building her spaces; Investing in them, improving them and rearranging or modifying the space to fit her needs and desires.
On the contrary, a foolish Woman is pulling from those places to satisfy a different set of needs. She sees her spaces, and therefore herself, as a resource. She will damage herself to gain in stature with others, trading her valuables for vain recognition or empty acceptance.
There are other meanings associated with this passage. One meaning, which follows a similar behavior pattern and is in the household itself can be summed up in the archetype of the Devouring Mother who smothers her children and will wield any manipulation feasible to maintain or regain control of “my” children. Instead of building strong Adults she is rearing children- that will remain children all their lives. This is not healthy for either Mother or Child. We were involved in a Real Estate transaction with a family in this condition. It was not a pretty sight. In the end, The Mother was destitute and the Children (in their 70’s) still living with their Mother, refused to care for her. Eventually the Court ordered the property to be sold so the Mother could be placed under care… the Children, still acting like children, had to be evicted from the home and were incapable of building a life of their own.
From a different perspective, I have seen a tremendous amount of modern husbands accepting their Wife taking control of them as their surrogate Devouring Mother. She thinks of him (because he behaves like) one of “My” children. This is unhealthy for every party involved, The Husband who shirks his responsibility, the Wife who wields responsibility which she should never be saddled with and Children who lose respect for and eventually loathe both the Father and Mother.
These are poor long term strategies and as the proverb above points out, foolish actions will tear the structure down.
Leave a Reply