I knew this would provoke discussions of gender roles and "you can't tell me what my highest calling is." And I'm just curious what people think.
Ok, here's how I see it. (Darn it, I started typing a bunch of really smart things and then lost it- let's see how much I remember.)
Proverbs such as this are carefully worded to make you think. A lot of the wisdom lies in the interpretation.
"Highest calling" depends on a couple of things. One, many native peoples (and pagans like myself) see Divinity as both immanent and transcendent. This means that Spirit is manifested in the world and as the world. As such, Spirit has both feminine and masculine polarities; and like the yin yang symbol each person has both polarities of energy. When people live this way as they are naturally led (and in the case of men not harming or neglecting women and those more vulnerable than them), it is conducive to great harmony and happiness; in this state the polarities are in harmony, Spirit is in harmony with itself- so this is very sacred- and in fact, nothing is more sacred. Thus, living in such a way as to produce harmony between masculine and feminine polarities is man and woman's highest calling. Two, many people feel pushed to constantly achieve; and the proverb teaches that all you really need to do is live in harmony.
"Lead a man to his soul so as to unite him with Source" again refers to the polarity of Spirit. When we connect with another person, we are seeing a reflection of our soul. Spirit is in harmony with itself. What [MENTION=15291]Mane[/MENTION] said is also relevant. Women on average seem to be more comfortable operating on instinct; men are socially conditioned to be disconnected with themselves in certain ways. This is reflected in the fact that women biologically have greater ability to access and use both hemispheres of their brains at once. So they tend to think more holistically and men tend to think in a more linear fashion. The feminine can help heal the damage done to the masculine from being disconnected with itself. And don't forget, since each person has both feminine and masculine, men can lead women to their souls and women can protect men. (And as [MENTION=5684]Elfboy[/MENTION] mentioned, men can protect each other.)
"Source" also needs to be understood. This is referring to Divinity, whatever you choose to call it. Native peoples saw Source as both immanent and transcendent, as the source of all, but also as manifesting in and as the world. It is the Earth and Sky, nature as the sacred creator of life, and all the life energy which flows through it; it is collective consciousness, Spirit in all its forms, and every being which possesses life. So uniting with Source is as simple as a spirit being in harmony with itself and with other spirits while being in harmony with the natural world. (By this definition, [MENTION=10714]Qlip[/MENTION], your argument would be irrelevant.)
When man protects woman, or the masculine protects the feminine (regardless of biological sex), the more vulnerable person feels safe, and is in greater harmony. That person's life energy is higher when they are safe, and this is sacred because Spirit is protected. What [MENTION=16071]sprinkles[/MENTION] said is also something I wanted to mention; protecting something is not condescending, but denoting value. We all protect what we feel has value. And since Spirit manifests as the life essence in living beings, protecting any human or animal within the context of balance is being in proper relation to the sacred (however you conceive of Divinity). Protection is also necessary for all kinds of vulnerable people: those who are sick, elderly, injured, going through emotionally traumatic times, young children, and your tribe. No one would argue that protecting people in these instances is patronizing. And of course, it doesn't mean allowing another person to be lazy, or interfering with their ability to freely live their lives; it means should a potential source of harm appear, you are ready to step into the situation and help remove it. It should be pointed out that in tribal cultures before technology, life was a lot more dangerous for everyone. Women tended to have more babies, and in this state they and their children were more physically vulnerable. It's true that women are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves most of the time, but with most of the men off hunting and fishing and doing whatever else they did, women mostly cared for the children; so they could use some help in taking care of themselves. In modern times it's easy to forget how complex and interconnected life was, because technology has allowed us to seemingly be more independent. Things have changed a lot, but I think the underlying principles are still true. Men still do more of the physical harm, and women are still on average more physically vulnerable. And even though many women choose not to have children, it still happens. While we are capable of doing anything we put our minds to, we could still use some help, and we like to feel safe. And though men are perfectly capable of living however they want, and being in harmony with themselves, many of them find themselves fighting a lot of external battles and disconnecting with themselves; and they could use some healing and nurturing.
A wise piece of advice for how to live does not command. It gently shows the natural flow of things and the benefits of choosing to go with the natural flow. We can apply this to our lives in whatever way suits our individual circumstances.