In my former congregation – Northminster Presbyterian Church in Macon, GA – we would do a special thing on Mother’s Day. Each year, we would provide a large glass vase with water and the people who came to church were invited to bring a flower to put in the vase, “In honor or memory of your mother, or someone who was like a mother to you.”
Mother’s Day is one of those days that can be filled with emotion. Maybe you had a great relationship with your mother. Maybe you didn’t. Maybe your mother got everything right. Maybe she made some big mistakes. Maybe you knew your mother well. Maybe you didn’t. Maybe your mother is still alive. Maybe she died long ago or died too young. Maybe there was/is another woman/person in your life who was like a mother to you for whom you are thankful. Yes. . . Mother’s Day can have a lot of complicated emotions associated with it.
Hopefully, though, one emotion that helps see us through these emotional waters is love – love that is imbued with gratitude for the ones who brought us into this life and tempered with grace for mistakes made and imperfections revealed. .
Back in the 1300’s a woman named Julian of Norwich had a series of visions or “Showings” in which she experienced God in a deep and abiding way. Some of her writings reflect on the attributes of God as not just the traditional “male” imagery that is often depicted in religious art. Several decades ago, a hymn writer named Jean Janzen wrote the lyrics to a hymn, based on Julian’s writing. The hymn – “Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth” – has a title and lyrics that might sound odd to some, but I find them to be absolutely beautiful:
Mothering God, you gave me birth
in the bright morning of this world.
Creator, source of every breath,
you are my rain, my wind, my sun.Mothering Christ, you took my form,
offering me your food of light,
grain of life, and grape of love,
your very body for my peace.Mothering Spirit, nurturing one,
in arms of patience hold me close,
so that in faith I root and grow
until I flower, until I know.
- Jean Janzen, 1991
This Sunday, as we mark the many gifts of not just those who have mothered us, but all of the gifts of the women of the church, we give thanks. We give thanks to God who gave us birth, took our form, and continues to nurture us in loving ways.
Remember, you are invited to bring a flower in honor or memory of your mother or someone who was like a mother to you.
See you in church!
Grace and Peace,
John
Prepare for Worship
This Week: “Restless Hearts Finding Home” (The Good News is. . . Alive in the World)
Read Psalm 66
Read John 14:15-21
Read Acts 17:22-31
Read or sing Hymn # 44 – “Like a Mother Who Has Borne Us”
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Preview YouTube video “Like a Mother Who has Borne Us”Preview YouTube video “Like a Mother Who has Borne Us”