the gentle whisper

1 Peter 3:3-6:
Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

I was inspired to read this passage after watching a few episodes of America's Next Top Model. It's hard to watch that show without questioning what it really means to be beautiful. According to Tyra and her modeling posse, beauty (well modeling anyway) is all about being "fierce" which is difficult to reconcile with the gentle and quiet spirit that apparently is of great worth to God.

What does it mean to have a gentle spirit? What would that look like? Is there a difference between being gentle in action and gentle in spirit? Well I looked up the word "gentle" in other places in the NIV. One passage that particularly intrigued me was the "gentle whisper" that was the presence of God to Elijah amidst the fire, wind, and earthquake. Now I don't know how the Hebrew and Greek words for gentle in these passages relate or have similarity, if they do so at all. But, perhaps, women are invited to be that gentle whisper of the presence of God in a world looking for answers in the loud and destructive things. Perhaps this verse about proper female behavior is not God's effort to limit the influence of women, but is God's will to reveal to the world His (or more appropriately Her) truth, character and presence through Her Spirit.

We are the daughters of Sarah if we do what is is right and do not give way to fear. The earthquake, wind, and fire are certainly more intimidating to me than a gentle whisper. In order to make an impact in the world, I would be inclined to take on those characteristics of a natural disaster before that of a whisper. However, if God him/herself came down as a gentle whisper, who am I to desire more than a quiet and gentle spirit.