Another thought, another week....

In the UK we celebrate Mothering Sunday on the fourth Sunday of Lent - which is where I have got to in my Thought For the Week catchup! Having just had 'Mother's Day' in the US & Canada it seems appropriate to put it up now. So here it is....

On March 14th, this coming Sunday, the Church celebrates Mothering Sunday (one of my grumpy quirks is that it isn’t Mother’s Day, which is an invention of Card Companies, but an old English Tradition of Mothering Sunday!). It is an important day where we give thanks for those who have cared for us and raised us, for the Church which – at it’s best – nurtures us and we remember a God who is tender and compassionate. Though we use ‘Father’ as our most common way of talking about God don’t confuse that with God being a man, or even just like our own fathers – God is like the best, most perfect father and mother, loving, caring, nurturing, challenging, encouraging. This Mothering Sunday, as you take your wife/mum/granny breakfast in bed, remember that both she and you are loved by the God who welcomes us all in to his (or her) family!

Comments

quilly said…
It seems like every year as the church gathers to celebrate Mother's Day the women who are not and never have been mothers get insulted. I actually attended one church that took it to such an extent that I quit attending on Mother's Day Sunday. Why should I have to ask forgiveness and apologize for never having been blessed with children? (Not officially, but the old busy-bodies saw to it).

This year the church I attend practiced something more inline with celebrating women nurturers. I highly approve of Mothering Sunday because I have done plenty of nurturing in my lifetime and I have been nurtured by God who loves me even if he didn't bless me with children from my own body.
2:30 am
Alastair said…
Amen to that Quilly, I certainly celebrate the role of carers and nurturers and the calling to be a carer in our services!
8:33 am
Alastair said…
And also (always think of things to say later!) I prefer 'Mothering Sunday' as in that tradition we celebrate the gift of nurturing (and especially our own mothers, where appropriate, and other carers), we celebrate the 'Mother Church' which at her best nurtures and cares for us, and we remember the God who is Father and Mother to us all. It's not meant to be just about being a mum....
9:07 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trying to connect the dots, unnecessarily

Image
Another sermon - as seems to be the way of this blog at present! Life is busy and complicated, and good, and bad, and exciting, and challenging, and (in short) not conducive to getting Blog posts written! So, here's my thought for today taken from these passages (Click for details): Exodus 16:1–5, 9–15,  Psalm 78;18–29 Mt 13.1–9 Grace and Meaning In the words of St Paul, or perhaps St John, or maybe St George, or even St Ringo “When I was younger, so much younger than today.” Ah, sorry, couldn’t resist!  No, it’s not a tubby boy story – but just a general reflection that today’s story from the book of Exodus used to cause me great consternation.  Or at least was one of those parts of Scripture that didn’t seem to fit… I knew the story, the mythological story I am now convinced, of the temptations in the wilderness when Jesus proclaims, quoting Deuteronomy 6 ‘you shall not put the Lord your God to the test’. As I moved into the Anglican Church and ...
Read more

A Sermon which upset someone

So, I'm not a theological conservative.  That probably comes across in pretty much everything I write, but I thought I should say it.  I believe myself to be orthodox, however, and hold to those things which the Church expresses in the catholic creeds.  I also have a relatively 'high' theology regarding the inspiration of Scripture. But I am not a Biblical literalist, nor do I hold to a doctrine of the infallibility of Scripture. I can't.  The Bible is too rich, too deep, too difficult, too flawed for that.  And by flawed I mean I understand it to be the record of human beings trying to make sense of God at work.  It has the breath of the Spirit blowing through it's words and on every page, but when we try and make sense of God there is a chance we will go awry.... 'Hey lets condemn (and or murder) pretty much everyone who isn't in our tribe, that's obviously what God wants' kind of awry.  And if we study this book carefully then we see that ideas ...
Read more