Those Headcoverings

Google Labs has introduced a Google web page creator. I had to try it out, and share information on a subject that I have done a lot of research on - though not nearly as much as many of the web sites that I link to on the site.

Please, if you get a chance to check it out, go to:

Those Headcoverings

and see for yourself what so many people are saying about those things people wear on their heads. Since the page is still under construction, I would really like to have feedback on what I have done, and maybe should do, with this web site, to make it the most helpful for people to do their own research and come to conclusions on the matter.

If you would like to read my own conclusions, I wrote about Christian head covering when I first began this Old Fashioned Lady blog. Click the link below the article to view all the blog entries I've made with the label "headcovering".

Also, the Christian, Islamic, Jewish and "Other" website links and information are kept in lists in separate pages, so you can limit your research to one subject, since the general heading of "headcovering" can be quite a lot of work.

Please let me know what you think - pro or con.

Humbly yours,

LisaM

Light in a Grey World

Click here for link to an article about a new film: "Robin Garbose's musical, "A Light for Greytowers," adheres to Jewish law and upholds a life of modesty and self-discipline for women." (photo from JewishJournal.com) I am always encouraged by women who, though their faith in God may be different from what I believe to be True, stand firmer in their convictions than I ever have, even to the point of what many might think of as severe sacrifices.

My husband talks about his work in India, describing the very visible actions of Hindu and Muslim believers, as they go about very early morning and frequent daily prayers, and other numerous religious traditions. And I have trouble just getting out of bed in the morning.

I read articles (like this one in the Washington Post) about women who dress modestly, some who also cover their heads and/or hair in modesty and submission - and how they are looked down on, punished, laughed at, misjudged and scorned by people who can't understand why they dress modestly in the first place. Women - some of them young women - who other women of the West call silly, frumpy, foolish or simply old fashioned. Yet they take the punishment, the slander, and STILL dress according to their belief of what God expects of them. And I struggle to find what to wear on Sunday that "looks good". (photo from the USA Today article)

I know women who hold one Truth to be the only Truth who will not even look at a believer in anything else except to see heathen, infidels and idolaters. Well, I think they're all people, created in God's image, and I can't help but see them. Maybe they do believe in something false: their idea of God, or their interpretation of doctrine or teaching. But because there is a Truth which is True, their lives do reflect that True Faith, that True Love, that One Truth. I pray that we all keep our eyes open, and even if a sister or brother is in error in some way, we are able to see where they have some part of the Truth that we are missing. With me, that is most often the ability to stand firm in faith in the face of opposition, slander, violence and even - shudder - mocking derision.

You, Kind Reader and Weblog Poster, are a light in a grey world: a world where people see in black and white, and yet since the lines are different for everyone, it seems, everything goes grey and cloudy all around us. May you be able to see the black and white lines - may you keep searching for Truth. May you keep shining whatever little bit of Light that you think you have; you do not know who the Light reflecting in your own little candle may be warming.

How shall they know us?

I have these thoughts running through my head, and I've posted this question on my personal blog too. Here's the post from my page:

"Perhaps you, or someone you know, can point me toward some scripture or studies on the idea of setting ourselves apart from the world visually. They will know we are Christians by our love, of course - what a stunning difference we can make by loving our enemies, and putting others above ourselves! My humble question is: are there physical things which will also set us apart - and should there be?

"I'm thinking about the Amish and Mennonite women (and the Muslim and Jewish women too in a way), who go ahead and dress and live differently from the world around them; seemingly first because they feel that God wants them to do these things which are different, but also to to honour their husband's position as given by God and to be modest, and as a by-product, others can see who is a Christian (or Muslim or Jewish) lady outwardly. I am thinking that men must also consider these things in his outward show of faith (long hair, style of dress, jewellery, etc.).

"Now it goes without saying that SOME women or men wear or do something just to be different, and they are not being modest in the full understanding of the word - they're being just as proud and immodest as the worldly, IMHO. Or maybe SOME are removing themselves from the world a bit early, in a way. What are your thoughts? Or do you know someone else who's had these thoughts that you could direct me to?"

I had some interesting and good comments - then more thoughts:

One part of my question is indeed about modesty in general - the covering up that everyone normally thinks of. Young women whom I've talked to think that if they dress modestly it means that they will be standing out in a crowd, and that would be "drawing attention" in another way. I have a hard time convincing them that they don't actually "stand out" or draw attention when dressing nicely and modestly among their barely dressed friends. I've gotten the old "do you want me to wear a long fur coat to the beach?" type comment several times til I just want to scream: "There are more types of clothing than just the two extremes of Brittany and Burka (the full muslim coverup)!!"

I also wanted to try to bring up the concept of "headcovering". According to Paul in 1 Cor. 11, it's more than just a show of submission during worship, but also in the general relationship to men and for modesty's sake (if you read the whole passage). If my heart is right and I am trying to please my God whom I love, and to be His girl before others whom I love, then I'm not going to try to "fit in" with my culture nearly as much as I'm going to try to "fit in" with His will, even if I have to be a little different. And I do think it's only a little different.

Here's one thought: If we see a lady wearing a certain kind of headcovering, the average person can say, "Oh, she's a Mennonite" (though there are many women who wear headcoverings who aren't Mennonite), or, "she's a Muslim" (I pick these because their unique headcovering styles seem very linked to these religious undestandings, but only in the strictest sects does the rest of their clothing necessary stand out as extremely different and attention-grabbing). In many parts of the world and in our countries, Jewish women also cover their hair in honour of God's will and due to modesty, without radically standing out in the rest of their modest dress. Now: Why? Do they do it "just to attract attention" as some might guess? Do they cover their heads "just to appear pious"? Perhaps some do. Do they cover their heads because it's what you do to prove that they are Amish, Mennonite, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, etc...? Maybe some do. Do they wear a head covering just to make everyone else look bad? I doubt it, but let's just say that someone who is going out of their way to look different and draw criticism to themselves is only doing it to be mean to everyone else - I find that unlikely, but it's possible.

But what if they are covering their heads because after study and prayer and thought, and talking with their husband or elder believers whom they respect, they decide that it is proper to cover their heads - to show submission to God and men, for modesty's sake, to remind them of their own place in God's design? It may look like it is for one of those other reasons I listed above - but we can't know their hearts. We judge someone for dressing a little more modestly, for laying off of the makeup and jewelery, for wearing a headcovering - and looking very different from all the other ladies around them - and say that they're just drawing attention to themselves and I'm not so I'm okay.

But maybe I'm not okay. Maybe I'm living in a time just like Paul and Timothy were writing in, where women were forgetting their position with their dress styles and showing off their hair and body like the world around them, and forgetting their humility before God and others with their gold and braided hair and fine clothes. So many of us realize that modesty is important and that it's loving one another that really matters. So what does modesty and loving others really mean? And if I am to reflect Christ's light in every aspect of life, the physical reflecting the spiritual, then the way I dress everyday is a part of that.

What kind of Lady Covers her head?

So who is covering? Here's some recent articles:

1. From Nigeria, I found this article, "Wrap Around," with a photo, describing the various ways that the Nigerian Muslim women wear their head covering. Opening paragraph: "If there is any group of women that you can easily identify at a glance simply by their mode of dressing then it is our Muslim sisters."
2. From the Jewish Press, I found a question and answer Rebbetzin who included a letter from a Lady who now chooses to wear a hair covering, in the article: "Give Me A Good Reason". She had these thoughts: ". . . hair is the one part of our body that is not essential to our well being, but connecting to Hashem is critical, and by covering our hair, our connection to Him as well as to our husbands, takes on a new dimension."
3. From Malaysia, a blog from a dorm mother, who wanted to share a picture of her girls out playing basketball with their heads covered, hijab style, and dressed quite modestly.
4. From Time Magazine, an article about the new trend for young catholic girls to take the veil - literally. The young Lady mentioned in the introduction "says the decision to wear the traditional black veil is her own. 'I could wear what a typical person my age would wear and blend into the world,' she says. 'But I wanted a constant reminder that every day I put on my veil, I am of God's service and I need to be about his work.'" Also see this article from Time on the same topic.

And all this regardless of what British Politicians, Catholic Cardinals, German Feminists or Egyptian Ministers might say. What does this really say about these Ladies and their choice to cover?

Concerning Head Coverings

I began my "foray" into blogging with the idea of organizing a study on the head covering. First I began gathering information on headcoverings of Christian Ladies, as talked about in 1 Corinthans 11. There is much information on the subject in websites of churches and individuals, with several viewpoints concerning what it means and how and when to do so. The book that "started it all" for me can also be found online, at Headcoverings.org. (by Paul K. Williams, see photo)

I very quickly realized that covering the head was a much broader subject, since women have been covering their heads for much longer than most realize. It seemed to me that this was not merely a Christian injunction, that is, something to mark out which were Christian Ladies and which women were not. I came to understand that a woman covering her head is natural, submissive, modest, and even beautifying. Doing a search into websites and news articles on this subject, I also quickly realized that even though all women have this tendency to want to cover their heads, there are many names that may "mark" which women you are talking about. Christians usually refer to a "headcovering" - all one word - and this includes Roman Catholics as well as Anabaptists and Protestants. Jewish people refer more to "hair covering" for women, as it relates to the idea of modesty, tzniut, and then usually use the separate words "head covering" when referring to something a man uses to cover his head. When talking about Muslims, the media tends to refer to their "head scarf" or "veil", while the Muslims themselves use the term "hijab" (spelling differs). When head coverings are talked about in a secular way, sometimes the term "head scarf" is used, but also "head cover", "scarf", or the particular form of hat, such as bonnet, snood, or babushka. Now, this is not absolute, just a general observation.

So I believe that a Lady who covers her head in public is not alone, and need not fear being "marked out" for any specific treatment, other than that of a Lady. That is why on my Zoomshare homepage, I made these observations:

"I think that you will notice that wearing head coverings is not (and should not be) done JUST BECAUSE of an oppresive, ignorant, or male-dominated mandate.

"Wearing a head covering is (and should be) a FREE-WILL, MODEST, FEMININE and NATURAL* CHOICE made by women all over the world, throughout the ages. (*Natural - part of one's nature, which is given by God.)

"Women today do not need to rebel against their own nature OR modesty because this "modern, secular society" demands that they be more like men, OR more "sexy" - "letting their hair down"."

Sure, I believe that Paul was upholding certain truths for men and women to follow in their worship and in their relation to one another - Eternal Truths - which are natural, and even little girls follow. When was the last time you saw a little girl playing dress up and not cover her head with something - whether it be a cloth, a dressy hat, or even flowers?

(Be sure to check out my Zoomshare website, to see all the links I found at the time, along with photos and news stories.)

About the Old Fashioned Lady

I'm starting this blog, because I want to all my stuff together - and since I am enjoying Gmail and Google search for now, I wanted to move my attempt to blog and research to the same server.

I have tried using the Zoomshare people, for a headcoverings blog and information portal, where I researched the use of the headcovering, head covering, head scarf, veil, hair covering, hat and etc. for women, and posted pictures, links and news articles that covered the issures about "Those Headcoverings". After a brief hiatus, I then went back to Angelfire, because I had used them for a family webpage a long time ago, and thought I would try their little blogger unit. Again, I wanted to include the links and recent news about headcoverings, and so I called it "Head Covered". Of course most news on the head coverings are about the Muslim population, for some reason, though there is as much confusion on the issue religiously and spiritually as for the Christian headcovering. And I want to be able to offer more permanent information and photos.

So now I am going to attempt a larger idea - that of feminity, which includes covering, as well as modesty and the ever elusive "inner beauty" which shines forth from a true Lady. Which most people consider "old fashioned", it seems. I think these areas are also all-religion inclusive, though personal interpretations will differ. For the most part, I believe that God created us women differently from the men, and we want to be modest, supportive, nurturing and beautiful - mostly, we want to be different from men because we were designed this way. As my best friend put it, "Ultimately what it comes down to is, you live. How you chose to live, ah, now there's the rub."

Incidentally, I was once "saved" from some harsh joking around that some women I was working with were doing, by an older gentleman who stopped and told them to watch what they were saying, because there was a lady present (referring to me). I suppose I've never forgotten that, and it has become a kind of vanity for me. Oh, well. I'm still working on it.