Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. I’m always conflicted on what to do or say on this day. For starters, it isn’t a Christian holiday. Not that it’s wrong to honor our mothers and our fathers, it’s just that Mother’s Day isn’t something that everyone can celebrate, unlike other Christian holidays (Advent, Christmas, Pentecost, etc.) which speaks to every human and his/her most pressing need. What do you mean? Well, for many, Mother’s Day is a painful day—some don’t have fond memories, others weren’t able to have children for some reason or another, still others might feel guilty for how they actually mothered their children. So yesterday I talked briefly about some of the more motherly aspects of God. In scripture God is described as having maternal instincts, which should not surprise us since both men and women have been created in the image of God (Genesis 1.27). For example, the Hebrew word for compassion/mercy in Isaiah 63.7 is the same word used for womb in Isaiah 46.3 and 49.14. What a remarkable reference: God’s compassion is womb-like; it's safe, warm, and something the mother treasures. Also we are reminded in Isaiah 66.13 that as a mother comforts her child, so God will comfort Israel. Similarly, God’s faithful love is compared to that of a mother’s for her child: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you” (Isaiah 49.15-16). After all, it’s God who has conceived and given birth to Israel in the first place (Numbers 11.12). The point to all of this is simple: God is not only like a father, but he is also like a mother. I’m not suggesting that we call God a mother; scripture never goes that far. Nonetheless, when wrestling with what God is like, motherly images are extremely helpful. So I hope that for all those who are reminded of what they don’t have on Mother’s Day, we (the church) can point them to God and to a community (a new family) that gives them the comfort they need. Peace.

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