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We are familiar with militant feminism, and the desire for political correctness, even to the point where one woman preaching in the open air in New York said: "We don't sing hymns, we sing hers, and when you come to God, don't worry, SHE will accept you".
I am not advocating that we drop all forms of attributing masculinity to God in favour of femininity, but surely no one has ever seriously believed that God is some kind of huge invisible male. God made masculine and feminine and is neither one nor the other, but far above and beyond both such creature images. But because we defend the Biblical language as God our Father, we must also acknowledge, as did the ancient Hebrews, that God is also our mother!Listen to this as Isaiah describes the compassion of God:
"I will extend peace to her like a river ... you will be nursed and be carried on her arm and dandled on her knees. ... * As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you;and you will be comforted ... Isaiah 66: 12-13
So the Bible sees God as a mother, as well as a father. I suppose it broadens our gender-bound images to include the loving tenderness and sheer enjoyment which a mother expresses over her little child. That passage is not alone. The next is from Psalm 131 and the picture it paints is that of the yearning of a weaned child still longing for the intimacy of his or her mother's breast, for when babies are fed they receive much more than milk from their mothers. They receive a sense of love, security, bonding, happiness and trust, all in their purest forms. But they can't remain tiny babies for ever. Growing up means no longer being breast fed.The relationship has to grow up and deepen.
My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty ...But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Psalm 131: 1 and 2
A Prayer:
Lord, let not any butch or machismo spirit keep me from seeking a deeper intimacy with you.
Now read Zephaniah 3:14-20
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