The Buzz on Deborah and Certain Women

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I'm reading about Deborah in Judges at the moment. In Summer 2013—The Daily Devotional Guide, the lectionary I follow, Patrick Henry Reardon writes this about her:

…"Deborah means bee, because it signifies the law like honey in the wax; that is, it contains in the letter the sweetness of the Spirit." Deborah's very name, then, was the key to understanding her.

…and not only that, but:

It was Ambrose, perhaps, who most eloquently expressed this large dimension of the ministry of Deborah. According to the historical meaning of this story (secundum historiam), therefore, in order to stir up the minds of women, a woman judged, a woman set everything in order, a woman prophesied, a woman triumphed, and, intruding herself into the dispositions of battle, taught men to fight under a woman's command. According to this story's meaning as mystery (secundum mysterium), it is the warfare of faith. It is the victory of the Church. 

…and I thought of the women who come to pray for revival time after time, who pray at the city council meetings, who read the Scriptures, plant things and pray in the city parks, who seem to be the ones running every prayer group in town, and the city is filled with the fragrance of the perfume (John 12:3 and 2 Cor 2:14-16).

Sweetly buzzing.