"Joan was France, the spirit of France made flesh... Joan was our country embodied, our country made visible flesh cast in a gracious form. When she stood before others, they saw Joan of Arc, but [we] saw France." (Mark Twain, Joan of Arc)
Let us begin the unveiling of the innermost being of femininity by considering one woman who was clearly stronger than the strongest generals of her day and yet was as sensitive as a child.
The apparent contradiction in Joan of Arc might lead some to see her as an exception, rather than the rule. However, when it comes to great saints they love to the greatest extent of their being, so when considering Joan we must keep in mind that what appears to be masculine can only be just that, an appearance.
Her heart is feminine and that is how she loves: with all the passion of a woman.
Although she was in the midst of battle, she never used her sword, the great sword of Charlemagne found beneath an ancient church altar according to the directions of an angel.
Although she led armies and commanded generals, she bowed before her rightful king.
Although she fought against the English her heart could not differentiate between friend and foe for if he lie dying in the field after the battle, she wept for both with equal agony.
Her military genius was her own gift. She had a mind for logic and strategy even when she was a young girl. God knew this when he chose her to rally his beloved France.
She had a keen skill for reading people's hearts. It was said that just by having faith in a man she could make him worthy of her trust.
She was squeamish, of all things, but saved her weakness for after a battle was complete since her men needed to see her confidence in order to have any of their own. She had no fear, no worry, except to displease God who she was most devoted to, owing all her strength to His generosity.
Of all the things that Joan of Arc did to help her country, her single greatest achievement was reminding the French that they had something to stand and fight for.
After 100 years of war their beautiful country was weighed down by depression, exuberant taxes, and cowardice.
"Yes, most Frenchmen were soldiers; and admirable runners, too, both by practice and inheritance; they had done next to nothing but run for near a century...When have French soldiers won a victory? Since eight thousand Englishmen nearly annihilated sixty thousand Frenchmen a dozen years ago at Agincourt, French courage has been paralyzed. And so it is a common saying to-day that if you confront fifty French soldiers with five English ones, the French will run." (Mark Twain, Joan of Arc)
She gave them her sincerity, her innocence, her gentleness, and her passionate confidence in their abilities.
She was the heart of France, not the arm, the foot, or even the head, but the heart. France's sorrows were her sorrows, France's joys were her joys.
She had the deepest love for her king, as her entire motivation for going to war was to crown the dauphin. Her love for authority was more than respect for an institution but the result of a deep faith in the good will that a true king has for his people. She held a sword and wore men's clothes as symbols of authority, but she never used the sword or demanded to dress like a man.
She had the authority of a Queen not of a King.
Authority, however, is a discussion for another day. Let it suffice to say that she did not seek worldly power or authority. She sought victory for France. She sought liberation from cowardice, depression, and taxes for her people.
Her greatest achievement: being something worth fighting for, is one of the single most feminine traits that Joan of Arc reveals through her life.
Men might fight for other men out of a sense of honor and friendship but they only risk their entire life with all their strength and every last ounce of their energy for a woman, a woman who would not be able to live without their sacrifice, a woman so womanly that she becomes his purpose for life and even death.
Joan of Arc was a young girl of eighteen or so when she took up the task of rallying France. She was said to be the most beautiful maid in all of France. She was gentle, understanding, trusting, and weak. She managed to get the most hardened heathen General La Hire to attend prayers multiple times a day and to quit swearing (at least while he was around her), and he did it with joy! She trusted the generals to the point of naivety, actually believing them at their word, even though they were conspiring behind her back, and shamed them afterwards with her shear brilliance.
Although she fought against the English her heart could not differentiate between friend and foe for if he lie dying in the field after the battle, she wept for both with equal agony.
Her military genius was her own gift. She had a mind for logic and strategy even when she was a young girl. God knew this when he chose her to rally his beloved France.
She had a keen skill for reading people's hearts. It was said that just by having faith in a man she could make him worthy of her trust.
She was squeamish, of all things, but saved her weakness for after a battle was complete since her men needed to see her confidence in order to have any of their own. She had no fear, no worry, except to displease God who she was most devoted to, owing all her strength to His generosity.
Of all the things that Joan of Arc did to help her country, her single greatest achievement was reminding the French that they had something to stand and fight for.
After 100 years of war their beautiful country was weighed down by depression, exuberant taxes, and cowardice.
"Yes, most Frenchmen were soldiers; and admirable runners, too, both by practice and inheritance; they had done next to nothing but run for near a century...When have French soldiers won a victory? Since eight thousand Englishmen nearly annihilated sixty thousand Frenchmen a dozen years ago at Agincourt, French courage has been paralyzed. And so it is a common saying to-day that if you confront fifty French soldiers with five English ones, the French will run." (Mark Twain, Joan of Arc)
She gave them her sincerity, her innocence, her gentleness, and her passionate confidence in their abilities.
She was the heart of France, not the arm, the foot, or even the head, but the heart. France's sorrows were her sorrows, France's joys were her joys.
She had the deepest love for her king, as her entire motivation for going to war was to crown the dauphin. Her love for authority was more than respect for an institution but the result of a deep faith in the good will that a true king has for his people. She held a sword and wore men's clothes as symbols of authority, but she never used the sword or demanded to dress like a man.
She had the authority of a Queen not of a King.
Authority, however, is a discussion for another day. Let it suffice to say that she did not seek worldly power or authority. She sought victory for France. She sought liberation from cowardice, depression, and taxes for her people.
Her greatest achievement: being something worth fighting for, is one of the single most feminine traits that Joan of Arc reveals through her life.
Men might fight for other men out of a sense of honor and friendship but they only risk their entire life with all their strength and every last ounce of their energy for a woman, a woman who would not be able to live without their sacrifice, a woman so womanly that she becomes his purpose for life and even death.
Joan of Arc was a young girl of eighteen or so when she took up the task of rallying France. She was said to be the most beautiful maid in all of France. She was gentle, understanding, trusting, and weak. She managed to get the most hardened heathen General La Hire to attend prayers multiple times a day and to quit swearing (at least while he was around her), and he did it with joy! She trusted the generals to the point of naivety, actually believing them at their word, even though they were conspiring behind her back, and shamed them afterwards with her shear brilliance.
In one sense Joan was no damsel in distress; she carried a sword and was trained for battle. By all accounts she could take care of herself, but she never did. She chose not to take care of herself, confident that she would never use her sword. She trusted so deeply.
First, she trusted God. She had Faith that no matter how much pain she had to endure, God had a plan for her and was looking out for her.
First, she trusted God. She had Faith that no matter how much pain she had to endure, God had a plan for her and was looking out for her.
The very heart of womanliness is just this: trust.
Trust will most likely get you hurt, and in Joan's case it earned her death, and yet she still trusted. Trusting is a woman's way of loving. If Joan were not to trust, even a little bit, she would be closing herself off to others. In this way she is most certainly a damsel in distress; she is absolutely vulnerable, by choice.
Women feel dead inside when they cannot trust others, especially their loved ones. Women build walls and create masks to protect themselves from the pain of trusting someone who does not care about them. In order to feel alive, to love, a woman must open her heart.
If the heart of a woman is like a gate to a great castle, then the man is the soldier standing in front to protect it from being taken by the enemy. A woman loves like a gate: either she is open or she is closed.
You can tell a closed off woman from a mile away. She is cold, distant, fearful, old, cranky, bitter, blaming, scheming, controlling, and she likely does not have a strong warrior defending her heart because she can take care of herself.
But an authentically feminine woman is open, warm, comforting, understanding, confident, caring, nurturing, and lively. She will feel greatly, as did Joan who wept for the wounded and dying. She will inevitably feel pain because the world is cruel and the devil is stalking her like a ravenous wolf, looking for the perfect time to attack and make her fear once again.
Trust will most likely get you hurt, and in Joan's case it earned her death, and yet she still trusted. Trusting is a woman's way of loving. If Joan were not to trust, even a little bit, she would be closing herself off to others. In this way she is most certainly a damsel in distress; she is absolutely vulnerable, by choice.
Women feel dead inside when they cannot trust others, especially their loved ones. Women build walls and create masks to protect themselves from the pain of trusting someone who does not care about them. In order to feel alive, to love, a woman must open her heart.
If the heart of a woman is like a gate to a great castle, then the man is the soldier standing in front to protect it from being taken by the enemy. A woman loves like a gate: either she is open or she is closed.
You can tell a closed off woman from a mile away. She is cold, distant, fearful, old, cranky, bitter, blaming, scheming, controlling, and she likely does not have a strong warrior defending her heart because she can take care of herself.
But an authentically feminine woman is open, warm, comforting, understanding, confident, caring, nurturing, and lively. She will feel greatly, as did Joan who wept for the wounded and dying. She will inevitably feel pain because the world is cruel and the devil is stalking her like a ravenous wolf, looking for the perfect time to attack and make her fear once again.
By trusting her men, and ultimately God, Joan made herself someone worthy of fighting for. Her radical trust was made by choice, not out of fear or coercion. She chose to trust them for no other reason than that they were her men, they were the men of France, and no matter how rough, crude, and cowardly they were they were her only hope of survival.
She needed them. France needed them.
France needed her knights to be knights. She was too weak to stomach war, but they could do it, they needed to shake off the oppressive control of England.
True, they needed her too, but for an entirely different reason. They needed her to remind them of the purpose of war: peace. They needed her to remind them that there were still homes full of innocent life that sang and danced and lived in peace and would not be able to continue to do so under the oppression of the English.
She needed them. France needed them.
France needed her knights to be knights. She was too weak to stomach war, but they could do it, they needed to shake off the oppressive control of England.
True, they needed her too, but for an entirely different reason. They needed her to remind them of the purpose of war: peace. They needed her to remind them that there were still homes full of innocent life that sang and danced and lived in peace and would not be able to continue to do so under the oppression of the English.
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