She, He, Them
The world we live in was built on the Patriarchy and it bleeds into everything, especially religion and faith. Growing up in the Christian church, I thought that was how it should be because that's what I was told to believe. If you ever for one second questioned that, you were headed down a "slippery slope". I remember one day my dad asked me "What if God is a woman?" and you would think by my reaction that he had asked me to commit murder. That's how deeply entrenched I was in the idea that God is and must be and can only be a man. Fast forward about 30 years and last weekend on Mother's Day I'm sitting in my mom's church (Normandy Park United Church of Christ), celebrating "Mother Earth Sunday" and singing: "She's got the whole world in her hands, she's got the whole world in her hands..."
The idea that God is only Father can actually be very hard for people that have never had a close relationship with their earthly father or any at all. Not to mention the countless women who have been sexually assaulted by men; how hard must it be to view God as a man? Repulsive even, I would imagine...especially for those who have been hurt in this way by their own fathers. There are actually many verses in the Bible that refer to the motherly qualities of God:
"As a hen gathers her chicks under her wing" -Luke 13:34
"As a mother comforts her child so I will comfort you" -Isaiah 66:13
"You deserted the rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth" -Deut 32:18
"Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?" -Isaiah 49:15
"For a long time I have kept silent, I have been quiet and held myself back. But now, like a woman in childbirth, I cry out, I gasp and pant." -Isaiah 42:14
If I had asked questions about these verses when I was young, I probably would have been told that they are just metaphors and not to be taken literally to mean that God is our mother or like a woman. If I were using critical thinking skills I would have said, okay so at what point to we take the Bible literally and then switch to metaphorical thinking? Are we just picking and choosing which parts we want to take literally? Umm, yes.
Due to the way that God was gendered in the Bible and the patriarchal society that was built we have essentially put God in a male box and left no room for anything else.
There is of course the obvious passage in Genesis which states that men and women were "created in God's image". If I as a woman was created in Gods image, how could God only be male? I honestly don't think God is a man or a woman but so much more. We have limited God by putting our small-minded concepts on them. Yep, I said it..."them". I mean after all, God is a triune God (Father/Mother, Son, Holy Spirit). It has been said that as Christians, we have made God in our image and I think there is a lot of truth in that.
Being in that church on Mother's Day was so healing for me. It wasn't full of young people either, there were quite a few older folks in there and the fact that this was "normal" to them just left me in awe. I haven't even mentioned the fact that the indigenous land was recognized in the service as well as the fact that merely recognizing the land isn't enough so we must do more; or the "green team" who's sole purpose is to find ways to better care for the earth. We could all take some lessons from this small church in the south Puget Sound about what it means to be the Church. We live in a time where it's so, so easy to give up on church because of what it has become but we don't have to. If we remain open minded, allow questions and doubt to take up space and above all, love one another... church can be beautiful once again. I will close with a prayer that we said on Mother Earth Sunday-
Prayer of Transformation and New Life (adapted from Teach Us to Care) By Simon Taylor
Which mothers us, feeds us, clothes us, shelters us.
For clean water to drink
Thank you God.
For food to eat
Thank you God.
For shelter and warmth
Thank you God.
For beauty and delight
Thank you God.
For the air to breathe,
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