Dear Searchers and Seekers,
Richard Rohr tells us, “Although Jesus was a man, the Christ is beyond gender, and so it should be expected that the Big Tradition would have found feminine ways, consciously or unconsciously, to symbolize the full Divine Incarnation.”
Looking back on my life’s journey, I am resonating with the special events which have brought me to where I am today. Growing up in a small country Methodist Church, God as Father was the accepted image. And I grew to love God with my whole heart.
In retrospect there were many female figures in childhood and youth who had more influence on my spiritual journey than I realized: my Grandmother who taught me faith and nurturing, my Aunt Maggie who taught me hospitality, my Aunt Mae who taught me courage, and, most of all, my Mother who taught me compassion and acceptance. Little did I know that I was experiencing the Divine Feminine through those who loved me the most.
Then I met Julian of Norwich, a 14th-century mystic, who introduced me to the idea of “God as Mother”. As Julian said seven centuries ago, “God feels great delight to be our Mother”; Compassion “belongs to the motherhood in tender grace;” and “a mother’s service is nearest, readiest and surest.” Always I have loved the image of the Mother Hen, symbolizing Jesus’ desire to protect Jerusalem’s children “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings”. (Luke 13:34). In Psalms 57:1, we find “I take shelter in the shadow of your wings”.
No matter our gender, we all experience the divine feminine through insight, love, compassion, connection and service to others. On the second Sundays of the month at 9am in Fellowship Hall, we will offer Celebrating the Divine Feminine, a service by women, for women – and all who want to explore this essential aspect of the human experience. Divine Femininity is about nurturing, understanding, empathy, and connection. It represents a side of ourselves that fosters emotional intelligence, intuition, and compassion. We will share stories of how the divine feminine shows up in biblical figures and modern-day individuals who work to build the kin-dom of heaven on earth. We all will be asked to seek the divine feminine in ourselves. Please join us as, together, we search for God’s Divine Presence in each of us.
Pastor Shirley