More on the masc. and fem. psychological approaches to life and love.

C.S. Lewis once captured its spirit in Screwtape Letters with the following quote:

“To a woman, unselfishness means taking trouble for others; to a man it means not giving trouble to others… the woman thinks of doing good deeds and the man of respecting other people’s rights…”

The masculine psyche seeks to know the truth in order to conform one’s life to it, while affording others the same respect. This is justice. The feminine looks to love, especially the vulnerable, which translates into meeting the immediate needs of others, whether they deserve it or not This is mercy. We can see God’s wisdom here in providing the complementary necessities for the health and flourishing of the family and society.

These distinct and complementary psychological approaches to life do not fit neatly into men and women. They often divide themselves into ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’ within the political world, and may be boiled down to justice and mercy in religion, i.e. the two ‘sides’ of God.

This beautiful dynamic, whose Source can be found in the eternal relation between the Father and the Son, are reflected in creation in the head and heart of a body, the father and mother of a family, the owner and CEO of a company, the president and vice-president of an organization, the centrifugal and centripetal forces of bodies, and the electrons and protons of atoms.