Sadie Hawkins Day

Due to a tecnical difficulty (forgetting to turn on the recorder) the first part of this sermon was not recorded. below you will find the introduction, which serves to explain the meaning of the title "Sadie Hawkins Day".

In the comic strip Li'l Abner, Sadie Hawkins was the daughter of Dogpatch's mayor, Hekzebiah Hawkins. The "homeliest gal in all them hills," she grew frantic waiting for suitors. When she reached the age of 35, still a spinster, her father was worried about Sadie living at home for the rest of her life. In desperation, he called together all the unmarried men of Dogpatch and declared it "Sadie Hawkins Day". A foot race was decreed, with Sadie pursuing the town's eligible bachelors.

The town spinsters decided that this was a good idea, so they made Sadie Hawkins Day a mandatory yearly event, much to the chagrin of Dogpatch's bachelors. If a woman caught a bachelor and dragged him, kicking and screaming, across the finish line before sundown, by law he had to marry her.

Although beginning as a fictitious holiday, Sadie Hawkins Day has become an American folk event which is celebrated annually. A day when it is traditional for women to ask men out on a date.

The third chapter of Ruth reminds us of Sadie Hawkins Day. There we see a similar reversal of roles as a young woman essentially proposes marriage to a man.