[This post is excerpted and edited from a previously published post.]
Celebrating earthly motherhood in worship is problematic on many ranges. However lifting up the maternal qualities of God is, it appears to me, a precious option to observe the vacation. In spite of everything, the earliest roots of Mom’s Day will be present in Greek and Roman celebrations honoring the mom goddesses Rhea and Cybele. And the fashionable manifestation of the vacation in america relies on girls’s efforts towards peace, justice, and equal rights.
The foundational Biblical picture of God as creator is strikingly female. The author of Deuteronomy chastises the folks saying: “You had been unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you delivery” (32:18). And in Isaiah God says she “will cry out like a lady in labor, I’ll gasp and pant” (42:14).
The Biblical pictures of God as a nurturing mom present a crucial corrective to modern non secular rhetoric about judgment and punishment, getting even and constructing partitions. In Isaiah God says, “As a mom comforts her youngster, so will I consolation you” (66:13). Hosea writes these phrases from God’s mouth: “I led them with cords of human kindness, / with ties of affection. / To them I used to be like one who lifts / slightly youngster to the cheek, / and I bent right down to feed them” (11:4).
And one other Biblical picture is a crucial corrective to our tendency to think about moms solely as light nurturers: God says, “Like a bear robbed of her cubs, / I’ll assault them and rip them open” (Hosea 13:8).
I really like that a few of these pictures are comfortable and comforting, whereas others are highly effective and disturbing. Motherhood is as a lot about wailing in labor and viciously defending our kids as it’s about kissing booboos and singing lullabies. In actual fact, some experiences of motherhood contain much more wailing than kissing.
It will be significant, not simply on Mom’s Day, that we acknowledge the sophisticated id of being a mom (or not) and the complicated relationships that many individuals have with their moms and different maternal figures.
It will be significant, not simply on Mom’s Day, that we elevate up the fullness of God and discover the wealthy and diverse pictures for the Divine supplied within the Bible and different non secular texts. This broadened dialog issues not simply because it permits us to know God extra totally, but in addition as a result of it permits us to maneuver past the strictly gendered methods we take into consideration one another.
Many theologians will argue that God is neither male nor feminine. I favor to think about God as feminine and male and non-gendered and multi-gendered. Lets say that God is gender fluid, or gender queer: a fierce mom bear one second and a beneficiant father the subsequent (Matthew 7:11); a father whispering secrets and techniques to youngsters and a mom gasping and panting in childbirth (Matthew 11:25, Isaiah 42:14); an eagle spreading its wings to catch its younger and a hen gathering her chicks to her heat physique (Deuteronomy 32:11; Matthew 23:37).
Maybe Mom’s Day generally is a time to query fairly than reinforce the gender binary and stereotypes so prevalent in our society. Reasonably than feeling disgrace round our personal experiences with moms and motherhood, it may be a day for us to acknowledge that none of us have good moms; that none of us are or shall be or would have been good moms.
And if we should have fun this secular vacation within the holy house of worship, maybe it may be a time for us to acknowledge and have fun the fullness of Divine id; a time to reward the mothering God who gave us delivery, to relaxation underneath the heat of her wings, and to seek out energy in her fierce love.
Under are just a few worship items which can be applicable for Mom’s Day.
Name to Worship
(Deuteronomy 32:18; Isaiah 42:14; Matthew 23:37)
Come, allow us to worship our Creator—
The Rock who bore us, the God who gave us delivery.
Allow us to pay attention for the One who cries out, like a lady in labor—
Gasping and panting to convey new life into the world.
Allow us to relaxation close to the center of our mothering God—
Gathered underneath her heat, sturdy wings.
Name to Worship
(Psalm 131; Luke 13:34-35)
Our Creator longs
to collect us underneath her wings.
We lengthy
to relaxation close to the Divine heartbeat.
On this sacred house of worship,
God’s longing and our longing meet.
Like sheltered chicks,
Like weaned youngsters,
We relaxation right here and are renewed.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Mothering God,
In your inventive, creating vitality,
We offer you thanks.
For groaning in labor pains,
We offer you thanks.
For the tears you shed,
We offer you thanks.
For the shelter of your wings,
We offer you thanks.
For stirring our nests and carrying us aloft,
We offer you thanks.
For feeding us and weaning us and holding us,
We offer you thanks.
For the fierce energy of your love,
We offer you thanks.
Prayer of Blessing for Mom’s Day (and different days):
Holy One, at the moment we pray for all who share
in your inventive energy,
your nurturing vitality,
your fierce safety,
your unconditional love.
No matter titles they carry,
No matter genders they’re,
We provide this prayer for all who bear your Mothering Spirit:
Shield the protectors;
Consolation the comforters.
Nourish those that present nourishment for others.
Grant your holy vitality to these birthing new life on this world.
Present sacred relaxation for the weary,
Divine knowledge for the bewildered,
Grace upon grace for the brokenhearted.
For all who gasp and pant with you in life-giving labor,
Grant your blessing,
Grant your peace.
Amen.
