Our Father/Mother in Heaven
Dale and I like to pray occasionally to our Heavenly Mother. Who are we praying to? The phrase Heavenly Mother conjures up images of fertility figures and goddesses, but we’re thinking about the traditional God-Jesus-Holy Spirit figure. You know, white robe, white hair, staff, but no white beard.
We Jesus-followers talk about God as if God were a man. We use male pronouns, we talk about the Father and Son, and after all, Jesus actually was a man. Most of us know with our heads that God is not actually a man or a woman: God transcends gender. But do we know that with our guts? The first time I prayed to my Mother in Heaven, I looked around nervously, waiting for lightning to strike. The first time I called God “She,” I had to pause for a minute. On the other hand, Dale had no problem with the whole Heavenly Mother thing.
For me, this whole question boils down to a couple of questions. First of all, if God truly transcends gender, if God is neither male or female, then why can’t our language about God reflect that? Why not use female pronouns, or talk about God is our perfect Mother, or compare God to a woman baking bread (oops, I stole that one from Jesus). Second of all, why do we limit our names for God? A friend of mine said she can’t call God “Mother” because Jesus called God “Father.” Well, that’s true. But in the Old Testament, people gave God different names almost every time they did something. They named God according to how God was acting in their lives. If Jesus truly set us free, then why don’t we use our freedom to freely name and speak about God? When I work on homework, God becomes, to me, “the God who Inspires.” When I’m about to preach, God becomes “the God who Strengthens Me.” When I’m sad and just need to curl up in someone’s lap, God becomes my Mommy, and I am happy to receive Her love.
So, what’s your gut reaction to talking about your Mother God? Do you think She minds?
August 4th, 2007 at 7:05 am
I meant to reply to you! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this…. God is definitely a she to me… maybe not all the time but certainly a lot of the time. We were created in Her image, right? Man AND woman! I remember having a conversation with a fellow “Sunday school teacher†one time, she adamantly disagreed. I always intended to go back and do some research but I didn’t… in the end I decided to let it go, I can trust my emotion on this one!
August 5th, 2007 at 7:30 pm
And you know, you are exactly right. It’s clear as can be in the Bible: “man and woman, God created them, in God’s image.” As I always say, how could an exclusively male god create a woman with a uterus, how could a man god create mother love and breast feeding and all that!?
August 10th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Awesome! What a relief to read this. A very concise, clear and beautiful way of thinking about this. Thank you, Elaine.