Honoring Maternal Love: A Reflection on God's Care

To say that the vocation of motherhood is sacramental is to say that mothers are telling us something about who God is. They're sort of like a lens that bring into clear focus an aspect of God's love that we may not otherwise see, but that we desperately need to see if we're going to live fully human and flourishing lives. [00:07:08] (22 seconds)  #MotherhoodReflectsDivineLove

When we call God our father, it is not a declaration that God is a man, but that God is profoundly personal. There are some church cultures that only refer to God as creator, sustainer, and redeemer in an effort to avoid gendered language, and it is true that God can accurately be described as creator, sustainer, and redeemer. Those are beautiful qualities, but so much is lost when we describe God in impersonal adjectives. No, no. Ultimately, God is a person who loves, who loves deeply, who longs to receive love from us, as scripture makes generous use of both fatherly and motherly images to elucidate the character and the love of God. [00:08:41] (51 seconds)  #GodIsPersonalLove

There is a deep human longing for this kind of fierce and tender, attentive care. Maybe you remember the story a handful of years ago about how when George Floyd was dying in Minnesota, he cried out for his mother. There he was in the street, a police officer's knee and the back of his neck, and he cried out for his mother. Terrence Klein, a Catholic priest, said this. Speaking of George Floyd's mother, he says Miss Sissy had died two years earlier, but anyone who has read close accounts of battles knows that young men often die calling upon their mothers. Can you imagine that? Truth be told, they're calling out upon God. As their worlds close in upon them, they cry out the name of the presence that first opened the worlds to them, the smile, the embrace, the voice they learned to call mama. [00:11:07] (61 seconds)  #LongingForMotherlyPresence

He's saying to them and to us even in times of darkness, even in times of discipline, even when you have failed, even when you have failed greatly, never ever forget that God's love is constant. How do we know that? Well we know that because God is just like a mother who has fed her baby at her breast, who has given her own self to her child, who has formed what we call in modern psychology a secure bond of attachment. And that's so important for our flourishing. [00:14:52] (46 seconds)  #SecureAttachmentForFlourishing

A mother's ever present comfort and presence is a foundation foundation for our secure attachment, which is foundational for all flourishing. If we want to be people who take risks, if we want to be people who bounce back from failure, if we want to be people who can move through seasons of suffering, we can't do it on our own. We need a foundation of secure attachment to a love that is more stable than our wavering hearts and we have that in the presence of God. [00:15:39] (39 seconds)  #LoveHealsOrphanedHearts

She was telling me that children who have not been picked up who have not been touched don't grow up physically or emotionally they don't grow up in resilience and so part of the ministry was just to be in those orphanages and to hold the children to touch them to help feed them and she was saying that oftentimes even belatedly these children would begin to grow again because of the presence of love that is stable and constant and I think all of this is a great parable of humanity because rich or poor when times get tough when we're in seasons of confusion so often we feel orphaned we wonder if we've done something wrong we fear that God has left us we feel absent of compassion and touch and we regularly need to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in our time of confusion the voice of the Holy Spirit saying I will never forget you, even when you have failed, even when you've taken the wrong turn. I love you like a mother. [00:16:53] (76 seconds)  #TakingGod’sLoveForGranted

Motherly love in the world, however imperfect, is sacramental. It's a sign that points to a greater reality if we open our eyes to it. So open your eyes to the love of God. It is God's love and God's love alone that can satisfy our heart's deepest longing for attentiveness, for constancy. [00:22:02] (25 seconds)  #StrengthThroughGod’sMaternalCare

``There is a God who seats you in the wilderness, who watches over you when you feel attacked, who looks upon you with delight in your ugliest moments, who gives to you suffering love. And if you open your awareness to that love, if you drink it in like a baby drinks in mother's milk, your life will be transformed. And you will become strong and have courage and resilience for every challenge before you. May that be true for you today in increasing abundance. [00:22:36] (37 seconds)