Every woman
experiences menopause, but it is often a silent suffering and something that we
rarely talk about. It can last for years and greatly impact a woman’s ability
to be fully engaged in life. It is a time that can be full of grief and loss, a
time of massive transition, a time where identity can be questioned. It might
be silent and women might feel far from God during this time, but God is
watching, God is walking alongside women as they go through this experience.
The poem
below has been written by a member of our congregation with a focus, not just
on menopause, but more specifically on menopause for those who are childless.
Life can be
painful, but like the psalmist, we can bring our pain before our loving God and
experience his grace.
Kirsty Brown
| Pastoral & Executive Minister
Menopause
Menopause is
cruel
When you
haven’t experienced sleepless nights during pregnancy
your body
hasn’t been prepared for sleepless nights during menopause
When you
haven’t experienced interrupted nights after childbirth
your body
hasn’t been prepared for interrupted nights during menopause
When you
haven’t experienced the permanent exhaustion of child rearing
your body
hasn’t been prepared for the relentless exhaustion of menopause
What price
hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings and hormonal imbalance
when you
haven’t experienced the joy of children?
You give and
take away
But you
haven’t given and yet you’re taking away
Menopause is
cruel
When the
possible turns into the impossible
When hope
turns into despair
When this
process doesn’t take nine months, but could take nine years
When
unpredictability seems to last a lifetime
What hope?
Before we
were formed in our mother’s womb, God knew us
He knew our
purpose, our character, our joys, and our pain
He knew the
things we would give birth to, even if it wasn’t another human being
In Jesus, he
experienced sleepless nights of anguish
In Jesus,
his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground
He knows, he
understands
In the new
heaven and the new earth there will be no menopause
Until then,
we seek to honour God through the physical, emotional and spiritual
disorientation
Our bodies
continue to be living sacrifices, offered in worship as holy and pleasing to
God
Anon | Member of St Columb’s Church, Hawthorn
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