Battle Speech of the Materfamilias

Daughters of America, of the world. My Sisters. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me! A day may come, when the courage of women fails, when we forsake our men and break all bonds of grace, but it is not this day! An hour of false martyrdom and shirked duties when the age of femininity comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight!

We are glad now that we see the facts with no veil of false pretense about them, to fight thus for the ultimate peace of the family and for the value of our men: for the way of humility in both great and small and the privilege of women everywhere to choose gratitude in their way of life and of obedience.

May it not be that the spirit of men and our families will be defended by the skill and devotion of women? There never has been, I suppose, in all the world, in all the history of war, such an opportunity for femininity. Helen of Troy, Joan of Arc, Catherine the Great, all fall back into the past—not only distant but prosaic; we young women, going forth every morn to guard our mouths and all that we profanely contemplate, holding in our hands these instruments of colossal and shattering power, of whom it may be said that

“Every morn brought forth a noble chance
And every chance brought forth a noble lady,”

demanding no queenly treatment, just like our many brave men who, in so many ways and on so many occasions, are ready, and continue to be ready to give life and all for our sake.

We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in our minds, we shall fight on the seas and oceans of self-pity, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in letting go, we shall name our blessings, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight against brooding, we shall fight against manipulation, we shall fight against complaining and assigning motives, we shall fight against comparisons; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this fleshly body or a large part of it were made the martyr that we so often think we are, then our men would stay home from work, forsaking job and paycheck, to care for our struggle, until, in God's good time, our renewed spirits, with all its strength and might, steps forth to the battle again.

Aye, fight and you may die to yourself. Give in to selfishness and you'll remain unchanged — at least for a while. And closed in upon yourself many years from now, you would be willing to trade all the days from this day to that for one chance, just one chance to come back here and tell the Deceiver that he may take your freedom, your beauty and time, but he’ll never take your eternal glory!

May the lightning of your glory be seen and the thunders of your onset heard from east to west, and be ye the avengers of feminine graces!

By the blood of the Christ you hold dear, I bid you, stand, woman of the West!




-Utterly misquoted speeches taken from from Winston Churchill, Braveheart, Woodrow Wilson, William the Conqueror, and Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

More on motherly courage: The Inefficient Way

Comments

MommaMina said…

A Call to ARMS: Those of mothers world round who will not settle for defeat!
Gretchen said…
Oh I needed this call to ARMS this week! I thought I might give up or turn around and run away but the deeper reserves won! I pulled out my last bits of strength, apologized, cried, cleaned the kitchen, picked up the toys and then planned for a better day in the morning. The day was better. The planning and bucking up worked. Everyone was happier including me. The blues didn't win. My sadness and anger didn't win. Naughty kid behavior didn't win. The dirty house didn't win. Loneliness and hopelessness didn't win!
Whew!
This Battle Speech is, perfection, Abby. What a true, wise and glorious perspective & battle cry.
Anonymous said…
Stirring! Tigresses. I like the fighting spirit. We men go off to work and work can be easier than staying in the battle field of the home with few breaks if any. We each have our calling. Strength to all you ladies. Uncle David