Ascending Together - Left- and Right-Winged Angels

Sister Linda K. Burton's talk, We'll Ascend Together, speaks of how the roles of men and women compliment each other. Men and women are not the same. In fact, there are many key differences that affect our roles in God's plan. Yet, our differences were carefully designed so we could balance out each others' strengths and weaknesses and support each other in marriages and in families.

Some people in our culture are placing less importance on the distinction between men and women. Some argue that a person should be able to choose whether he or she is male or female. Some say that marriages do not require one man and one woman, but could function equally well with two men or two women. After all, if men and women are equal, one should be interchangeable for another, right?

I believe that men and women, while being equal in many ways, are also unequal in some ways. Some of these inequalities are biological and measurable. Others are spiritual and intangible. As far as I'm concerned, it's enough to say that men and women are different, and their traits vary from each other in such a way that they compliment each other, compensate for each others' deficiencies, and support one another.

The proverb from which Sister Burton's talk takes its title reminds me of an image of two angels, each having only one wing. Since one angel had their left wing and the other had their right wing, the two were able to fly together by leaning on one another and flapping simultaneously. This arrangement only worked because their wings were on opposite sides. Can you imagine a bird or an angel trying to fly with two left wings or two right wings? If two left-winged angels leaned on each other and flapped at the same time, I think they would fall over or, at best, fly in circles. When two opposite-winged angels pair up, however, I can actually imagine them being able to take flight together.

In a similar way, men and women were made to lean on one another, support one another, and lift each other up. No, men and women are not the same, but that doesn't mean that either is less valuable or less essential than the other. Winged creatures need both a left and a right wing to fly. Only when a man and a woman work together in harmony can a marriage truly soar.