Our True Mother
The image of God as a Mother is not new. In Isaiah, God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” Dame Julian of Norwich wrote many years later of Jesus as our true Mother “from whom we receive our beginning, our true being, protection, and love.”
“The deep wisdom of the Trinity is our Mother,” she writes, “in whom we are enclosed.”
In God we see the gift of this perfect motherhood: nurturing, strong, faithful, life-giving. Mary is not just the mother of Jesus; she is the Theotokos, the bearer of God. In her we see an image of our human experience that includes bearing the sacred within our very bodies.
Mother’s Day is a day of joy and celebration for many. It’s a gift to celebrate with those we love, to express gratitude, and to lift images of God’s motherhood. I give thanks to all the mothers in our midst, from those in my family to those in our congregation.
Yet, Mother’s Day can also be delicate and difficult for some. There are those grieving their mothers, whether through death or estrangement. Some mothers quietly bear the pain of loss, generational trauma, or the inability to bear children.
We might get a little stressed out if we think about trying to hold these things together in one Sunday church service. Are we celebrating or grieving? Is it a day for festive brunch or a reason to call a therapist?
The beauty of being the Beloved Community is that, in God’s embrace, all this can be held and nurtured at the same time. Gratitude is always a gift. Healing is always possible. God’s love is always uncomplicated and unconditional.
God is our true mother, and the Mother’s Day gift is that we are all bearers of the Holy One. For those in our lives who have modeled this life-giving motherhood, we give great thanks!
Faithfully,
The Very Rev. Bernard J. Owens