So here’s what I learned from last week’s study of Come, Follow Me, the Bible-based curriculum for home and church study for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

My favorite story from last week’s lesson was that of the woman who had the issue of blood for 12 years that was dried up when she touched the hem of the Savior’s garment. I am assuming this “issue of blood” was some kind of menstrual issue. It probably was, as if it had been a wound on the surface of her skin, she probably would have died if she had continuously bled from surface wound for 12 years.

We are used to thinking of virtue in terms of simple goodness, and sexual purity. Or we think of it terms of virility, since virility and virtue both have the same Latin root “vir” which means “man.”

This story suggests to me that there is more to virtue than simple sexual purity and the basic good, virtuous character traits of honesty and kindness. There is something about virtue being connected to the women’s fertility cycle. When we as a society treat this awesome cycle in the way that God views it, as a cycle created by him to be the fountain of life, our society will be truly virtuous. That means honoring the cycle and not doing things to interrupt it, squash it, or hide it. You can read more about that in my chapter on fertility in my book. Click on the tab “the book” in my header above to find that chapter. Nancy Campbell, founder of Above Rubies, also has much information about honoring fertility on her web site. Here is a link to the articles about fertility on her web site.