Mother’s comfort

The Bible puts forth compelling images of God’s mothering qualities. The book of Isaiah records God as saying, “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem” (66:13). And Christ Jesus certainly demonstrated the motherly qualities of divine Love by healing those who were sick and comforting those who mourned, by tenderly feeding his disciples on multiple occasions, and by being moved with deep compassion for those who were adrift or afraid. Jesus constantly recognized God’s, Father-Mother Love’s, kingdom as reality itself and knew that eternal Love constitutes all being, orchestrates all movement, and maintains all as good.

This recognition and approach to life is also gleaned by studying the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science. When she explains the nature of God, Spirit, as omnipotent (all-powerful), omnipresent (all-ways present), and omniscient (all-knowing), she is explaining the nature of God as not only Father but also Mother. In her book “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” she further explains that we, as God’s children, divine Mind’s immortal ideas, coexist with God. Mrs. Eddy writes, “Father-Mother is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation” (p. 332).

One day years ago, I needed help. I had been struggling with a dull headache for weeks, and as a parent, wife, and church member who was also working full time, I felt stressed and vulnerable. I reached out to God, our divine Father-Mother, to instruct me.

I learned that there is both strength and comfort in living with the constant awareness that God is Mother as well as Father, and that we can completely trust the healing power of this spiritual fact. When things get hectic, we can know that our Mother, divine Love, is with us, bringing order to our day. When stuck on how to resolve a challenge, we can stop for a minute and ask for our Mother’s direction, having full confidence that God will guide us to an intelligent solution. Knowing of our divine Parent’s presence and constantly holding this in thought reassures us that we are not alone.

When everything seems to be our responsibility, we need to ask ourselves, “Who is in charge of this family/business/project/etc.?” The carnal mind – a suppositious mind opposed to God – would have us look to human ways and means for help, counsel, and protection; instead, the need is to prayerfully affirm God’s, Spirit’s, allness, and place our reliance on the Principle of harmonious being, which is God.

We must mentally look away from a limited sense of being – often appearing as persons, things, or circumstances – to the reliable and infinite source of all good. Anxiety just evaporates when we begin to glimpse that because we are the offspring of this divine Principle, we are never working independently of God but have always coexisted with infinite Love as Love’s spiritual child.

As I reached out for help from our Father-Mother on this occasion, I realized that if I wanted the minutiae of my family’s day-to-day life to be harmonious rather than chaotic, I needed to let go of thinking of myself as responsible for making good happen. Our divine Mother is everywhere. Our Mother provides everything we need. Our Mother protects everyone. I am not the mother of the universe; God is! I am not a mortal. I am, in truth, created spiritually, governed harmoniously, and loved eternally by Love itself.

As I began to consistently yield to these spiritual facts, the stress and headache disappeared, and my life expressed more of divine Principle’s innate order and peace.

Divine Love is your Mother and mine. Because God, Love, is All-in-all, there is nothing that can avoid or be outside of Love’s governance. The earth continually rotating yet never spinning out of control symbolizes the universe under Love’s intelligent, constant care.

We can count on God, the divine Principle of all being, to maintain Her universe, including every detail of our lives, in perfect balance. It is our Father-Mother God, our divine Parent, who brings order to our schedule; protection to our children; and calm, strength, and healing to whatever challenges we may face. The fact that our Mother is always with us promises abiding joy, warmth, comfort, and peace.

Originally published as an editorial in the May 2, 2022, issue of the Christian Science Sentinel.