This Sunday we celebrate Mother’s Day in Australia, the day in the year when we pause to acknowledge and honour mothers and other significant women in our lives. These are the people who brought us into the world, who (in most cases) loved and nurtured us and guided us through life. Being a Mum is not a one day in the year role, of course, but more like a 365 days a year role that lasts for a lifetime.
What can mothers and mothering teach us about God, who is nearly always imagined with masculine imagery in the Bible (e.g. Father, Lord, King) and always described with male pronouns? Just occasionally we catch a glimpse of another side of God’s nature, a maternal side if you like – God who brings us to new birth, who nurtures and cares for us like a mother. In the wisdom tradition in the Bible (e.g. book of Proverbs), wisdom is depicted as a woman teaching others about life, justice and mercy, a tradition that appears to have profoundly shaped the ministry and outlook of Jesus and which was probably taught to him by his mother, Mary.
In Genesis we are told that God created humanity in his own image as male and female. So if humanity reflects the image of God, traits or characteristics that we might think of more in feminine terms help us to a fuller appreciation of God’s character – things like compassion, empathy, gentleness. So this Mother’s day let us celebrate those who do and have Mother-ed us (including those who struggle with being a Mum or who were never able to be a Mum or who have a difficult relationship with their mother or children). And let us also reflect how mothers help us imagine what God is like.