MOTHERS ADVANTAGE OVER OTHERS
Mothers have an advantage over the rest of us. They get to understand a part of God’s heart that can only be understood from experience. Fathers have a similar but different insight into how it feels to be God. Children of a good mother or father have a theological “head start” in life because of what was modeled for them. Even the motherless child and the childless mother know the longing of a lover without a beloved.
Trinity, Family and the God who is Love
God created humanity in the image of a perfect family. This story is written into the earliest chapters of scripture and the hearts of all humanity. It is the story about the love of a father and a mother for a child and his security in that love to confidently leave father and mother to find a bride and start his own family. That is the story the Bible has been telling from the beginning. The Son who is the very image of the Father and the embodiment of the Spirit comes to pursue his beloved bride. The whole thing ends with a wedding and living happily ever after! It is no coincidence that the deepest longings of our hearts for family, belonging, mothering, fathering and romance are all the very essence of the God who IS LOVE and the story this Holy Trinity is telling.
Mothers get to experience first-hand what is like to be the Holy Spirit. Hovering over their little ones, they nurture and protect the way the Spirit of God did over the waters of creation. Mom is our helper, teacher, advocate, counselor and guide. She is grieved when we self destruct and quenched when we ignore her. We can all know God’s heart a little better by understanding the heart of a mother. Mothers just have an inside advantage.
Happy Mothers Day Holy Spirit!
Of course, there are no perfect mothers, fathers, sons or daughters. But we all know deep in our hearts what perfect love would look like. We know it from our own experiences and from our longings. Mothers Day is an opportunity to celebrate the way our mothers teach us about God for better or for worse. All our experiences of joy and pain in this relational dance of existence point us to the God who IS LOVE. Once in a while, we take the time to stop and reflect on it.