Mothering God?

Madonna and Children*

     In this penultimate chapter of The Story we read about Paul's imprisonment and eventual death. It is a compilation of excerpts from the letters both written by and attributed to Paul, and for Sunday we will focus on a portion from 2 Timothy chapters 1 and 2. We celebrate the 4th Sunday of Easter this week, and again the text focuses on Jesus' resurrection and the implications thereof.
     And in (yet another) Holy Spirit moment, I chose this particular text not realizing it was Mother's Day. With so many of these wonderful Spirit moments this year, I am unsure why I am still surprised when it happens, but the reading begins with Paul greeting Timothy and remembering Timothy's faith, which was passed down through his grandmother and mother:

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived 

first in your grandmother Lois and 

your mother Eunice and now, 

I am sure, lives in you. 

In this world, there are few greater images of the new life we are given in our life of Christ than that of a mother and her child. Not only in the literal life which is given in the act of labor and birthing, but in the very act of mothering. I know that not everyone has a universally wonderful mother. I consider myself blessed in having the mom I do have, and doubly blessed that I have a wonderful mother-in-law, and even moreso with all the women who give me motherly care and who are more than grandmotherly to Frankie.

     The traits that set these women apart in my own life include forgiveness, love, mercy - all of which were given unconditionally. I acknowledge that I am not always the easiest person to love. In fact, now that I have a daughter of my own I am beginning to understand some of what my mom was thinking as she would mutter something under her breath after one of our many run-ins.

     In his letter to Timothy, Paul gives his grandmother and mother much of the credit for passing on the faith. My mom brought me to the waters of baptism as an infant. She taught me to pray. She taught me to read my Bible. She taught me how to serve others (I have been going to church meetings my whole life). But mostly my mom taught me what it means to know Jesus. Not just as God's Son who died for my sins, but as a friend, as an intimate partner who goes behind, beside, and before me in my own journey of faith.

     Now, there were those other women (and there continue to be women from whom I learn much) who also taught me the faith. Those who lived by quiet example, those who brazenly spoke about their faith in awkward places and embarrassed me to no end as a teenager, those who always had open arms and a listening ear. The point is: by and large it has been women in my life who impacted my faith the most.

      We don't often focus on the feminine traits of God, but this Sunday I look forward to spending time considering the important ways God works through women, particularly through mothers, and how through these women our faith is made more complete.

     How has your mom or other women in your life impacted your faith?

*Lippi, Filippo, ca. 1406-1469. Madonna with Children, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=47895 [retrieved May 5, 2014]. Original source: www.yorckproject.de.