A Thought For The Week Of May 13

"As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem." (Isaiah 66:13) Yesterday was Mother's Day, and that got me thinking about some of the feminine images for God that we find in the Bible. Some people get very uncomfortable with feminine imagery for God. I'm not sure why. Even Jesus used feminine imagery for the one He called His "Father." In the parables, for example, the woman who found the lost coin was a symbolic representation for God. And such feminine imagery goes back long before Jesus. This verse from Isaiah 66, for example, compares God to a mother. The verse is a bit stereotypical perhaps, but it seems to resonate with most people's experience of their mothers. When we think back to childhood, usually it was our mothers who comforted us, who told us not to be afraid, and who took care of our boo-boos!  It doesn't have to be. Fathers can do that too - but I think most people perceive it (fairly or not) as a maternal quality. And it's what God does. And there's something beautiful about that. God may be (and I would say that God is) all-powerful; a ruler; a King. And yet at the same time, God is a comforter, one who holds us close and takes away our fears and tries to make it all better for us. That - to me - is a beautiful combination of qualities. And the fact that God combines both stereotypical male and stereotypical female qualities perhaps reminds us that God is the example for both good fatherhood and good motherhood. Just like a mother, God will comfort us in "Jerusalem" - not the city of today, but wherever we meet God, which can be anywhere, as long as we're open to God's presence. Have a great week!