Our Father-Mother God

Spiritual resource to share: the motherhood of God

An unlikely picture for this post? Maybe, but I love the fatherly and motherly qualities expressed by this dog!

Our local paper has a regular column called “Faith and Values” written by our area’s spiritual leadership. My friend Erin, a Methodist youth minister and new mother, wrote the most recent article last week with the title: “Our Mother who art in heaven.” In it, she asks a few questions:

“…why don’t we teach them (all kids) the concept of a heavenly Mother? As a woman, I was created in God’s image, right? I don’t think God can be limited by our lack of understanding, but do we limit ourselves with our partial concept of God? Sometimes I need my Dad. Sometimes I need my Mom. Can’t God be both?”

Oh yeah. I think I love this question because I love the answer even more. I firmly believe that God is both our Father and our Mother.

With the Biblical premise that Erin brings out – if we are made in the image and likeness of God, who created male and female, then fathering AND mothering must be divine. To me, it's logical that God is our Father as well as Mother.

What other Biblical evidence do we have?

• “God is Love.” That’s from the book of John.
• “The Lord is my Shepherd." The 23^rd Psalm explains the motherhood of God thoroughly.
• And from another Psalms, Psalms 91: “ I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress...He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust”

Mary Baker Eddy brought out the idea of God as Father-Mother in her spiritual perspective of The Lord's Prayer. She also writes:

The ideal man corresponds to creation, to intelligence, and to Truth. The ideal woman corresponds to Life and to Love. In divine Science, we have not as much authority for considering God masculine, as we have for considering Him feminine, for Love imparts the clearest idea of Deity.

In my own experience, I have been comforted and healed by feeling the gentle, loving presence of an all-loving God, guiding me so many times: when my family made a series of moves across the country; when I have been healed of resentment and anxiety, of physical ailments, and much more. I have felt companioned and encouraged when I thought I was all alone. God's mothering qualities and gentle presence of peace and approval has strengthened me more than my many blog posts can ever tell!

I have leaned on the idea that I am the image and likeness of my Father – Mother God as a parent. It has helped me see that the source of my mothering is God. The idea of a mother’s love being spiritual is powerful:

A mother's affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal. Therefore maternal affection lives on under whatever difficulties.

Sometimes I have needed the strength and protection of a father, other times I have needed the unconditional love and comfort of a mother. I am so glad to know that God is both!

To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.