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Sherlene Stevens: The Woman's Gold: Queen of Sheba

Reference: Queen of Sheba, Holy Bible, King James Version.

During this last week of women's month, I wanted to take time out to acknowledge all women of all faiths.As many of you have heard me say this before, "When I was going through relationship challenges with my then-husband, I was not accepted to proceed in pastoral training by the request of the attending congregation of the United Methodist Church denomination"--a woman valued in training as a lay speaker only. All the religious titles that defined me and the actions that I participated in seemed to simply vanish, once I left my home-town community or shall we say my husband's family's communities and neighborhoods. After my separation from my husband and the Church, which happened to be the denomination of most churches within my community (90%), I explored the Nation of Islam. It was my first time, living on my own, without my husband, in Wilmington, Delaware, that I actually attended worship at a local mosque.

Yesterday, March 27, 2017, was the cooperation of the "first ever" Muslim women's day--by all Islamic sects globally. It was an important achievement for Islamic women because to acknowledge such secular holiday is normally not heard of within the faith. Recently, then we have the American women's strike. Women-led events to show unison and self-worth as part of being of the female gender.

Women, throughout the centuries, have consistently felt the need to express that we are designed to be equal (made to be friend and companion to our mankind), to be more and to do more within our unique home styles and career paths.Some of us would rather not work; and others, like me, prefer to work (to be a helper in financial productivity). Women now make up most of the congregations or places of worship that are led by men today. So without us sitting in the pews, how would we receive our religious voice?

Queen of Sheba. She was a queen noted who visited a great king of productivity: king Solomon. She heard from her far-off nation that there was a king who had achieved great blessings. Everything king Solomon ventured to do was blessed.by God/Yahweh/Wakan Tanka/Allah. Yet, the Bible discusses the purity of Sheba's gold within her kingdom.  There was no other gold like it within the lands. If you were blessed to receive some of it, you were l-i-k-e-d.  With all the blessings of Solomon, the song writer (who happened to become a king himself) had to recall this historical fact (Psalm 72:10, 72:15).

What misery it would be to lose the value of such a woman. What is your worth, ladies? To any gender, if you own a business, do you have employees working for you who have morals and values? While on your job, do you value and accept your employer's vision and mission for the company? Be ever mindful of the company that you keep or surround yourself with because you will be talked about. Do we not all agree that it would be nice to be spoken of so kindly as queen Sheba? In conclusion, she may not have been referenced much within the Scriptures like the kings of the times, but when she is she is labeled "virtuous woman".