Morning Prayers for a university chapel service, October 2001
God’s Maternal Love
by Diana Rowan

The Reading is from Isaiah, Chapter 66, Verses 10-13 (New Oxford Bible)

"Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her --
that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast...
For thus says the Lord: I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse and be carried on her arm, and dandled on her knees,
As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem."

* * * * * * *

We need comfort in these troubled times, do we not? We need that kind of mothering. We need to sense the deep maternal protectiveness of God. You might even say, we need to see the feminine face of God, in these fearful days:

"As a Mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you, thus says the Lord."

The fourteenth century English Christian mystic and anchorite, Dame Julian of Norwich, wrote down her powerful visions of Christ which included -- in impeccable, and unassailable, theological exegesis -- her sense of His maternal qualities. In her Revelations, or "Showings", she writes:

"And so I saw that God rejoices that He is our Father, and God rejoices that He is our Mother....as truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother. What do you wish to know your Lord's meaning in this thing? Know it well, Love was His meaning..."

And in Julian's vision, Christ made a promise to humankind, when He said:

"All shall be well,
And all shall be well,
And all manner of things shall be well..."

-- a deceptively simple declaration, but one which has an ocean of meaning.

Christian visionaries from St. Anselm and St. Mechtild to St. Catherine of Siena, even St. Augustine -- for all his misogynous moments -- have spoken of the maternal nature of God's love. Clement of Alexandria alludes to "the milk of the father", and to "the father's loving breasts", perhaps surprising to us. Twelfth century Cistercian monks wrote of "Mother Jesus" as a symbol of tenderness and supportive love. And I was surprised and touched, last Sunday here in church, to hear a parallel human theme in the exquisite Purcell anthem:

"Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem,
...for kings shall be thy nursing fathers,
and queens thy nursing mothers..."

What can this mean for us, this ancient gender-bending which could even leave us a bit uncomfortable. One can find it in Buddhist imagery as well: the great mother protector in Tibetan Buddhism, the saviouress Tara, is often referred to as "the female Buddha", and an embodiment of wisdom and compassion. She is said to have sprung from a single tear of grief and compassion for the sufferings of all humankind -- which fell from the eye of the great bodhisattva, Avalokiteshvara. He in turn, was an androgynous/male figure which, over the centuries and in various lands, was closely identified with the female protectress, Kuan Yin --"She who hears the cries of the world", She who comforts every grief"...

Have I thoroughly confused you by now? I hope so! (in a gentle way)

Enough so that we can sit here this morning in "a cloud of unknowing" and hear -- with fresh spiritual ears, newly cleansed of the fear polluting the air around us -- the intense love, the longing-to-protect-us, in the words attributed to Christ when He says:

"O Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often have I longed to gather your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings!"

What can this mean for us, this uneasy morning -- when the headlines, and the radio and television, and the internet all snarl and hiss of deadly poison in our daily mail, of bombing raids in a widening war, and terrorist cells entrenched in sixty countries? It can mean that -- if we truly hear God's passionate cry to us -- we can know that we are, in a deep sense, safe, under those "Ah! Bright wings" (the poet Gerard Manley Hopkin's wonderful phrase). And then we may look into our own hearts and -- whether we are engendered as female or male, it doesn't really matter -- we can find that same powerful, calm, centered, protective love. And we can offer it outwardly, to everyone we meet today...and the next day, and the next -- with a silent blessing as we pass, or some gentle communication with a tense and troubled friend or colleague.

We can keep giving, spreading strength and calm, embodying that exquisite balance of wisdom and compassion of a maternal Buddha, or a maternal Christ. We can offer it, too, to those leading our country at all levels, silently or directly, skillfully, making our voices and our beliefs heard.

And we can offer it back to God in full circle, with deep gratefulness for the gift of that love.

Let us pray:

Oh God, we give thanks for your strength, your guidance and comfort. Help each of us find within ourselves your maternal love, and in finding it, grow calm and mindful in our thoughts, our speech and actions. Help us comfort and strengthen those around us, enable us to express your infinite love, your wisdom and compassion -- in ever-widening circles, out from Your still center within us. Guide us, through Your grace, to help calm and heal a maddened world. And may we, each moment of our day, embody Your love for all beings without exception, here on earth. Amen

D.N. Rowan is an author and editor.