Mothering God

This past Sunday's texts provided yet another point of ambiguity in worship (see my previous posts on this topic): images of a mothering God.

Isaiah 49:15. "Can a woman forget her nursing-child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you."

Psalm 131:2. "Like a child upon its mother's breast, my soul is quieted within me."

Musically, one would think this would be a treasure trove of possibilities. But what are our options? "Children of the Heavenly Father." "His Eye is On the Sparrow." Sure, there are others that work better, and there are such fantastic texts as, "Mothering God, you gave me birth" by Jean Janzen (b. 1933) and based on the writings of Julian of Norwich, a late 14th century English mystic; as of right now, however, such feminine imagery in worship music is not well-known by our congregations in general.

This tension, then, provides us with an opportunity to raise the issue of masculine imagery for God and the need to balance it in our worship. Why? One could obviously argue it on the basis of feminist ideology, but feminist concerns aside, it's just not good liturgy or theology. Scripture does not present us with a unilaterally masculine portrait of the living God, and neither should our worship.

Strangely, where our hymnody has received a language and imagery facelift, our "contemporary" music is arguably "old-fashioned" in its use of masculine language for God (or its use of masculine pronouns in general). A few examples:

• "For your glory may you draw all men..." ("I Will Run to You," copyright 1996, Hillsong Publishing)
• "Above all wisdom and all the ways of man..." ("Above All," copyright 1999, Integrity's Hosanna! Music)
• "No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man..." ("In Christ Alone," copyright 2001, Thankyou Music)

So unfortunately, until our musical storehouses grow a bit more to include a wider repertoire of songs with feminine imagery (or gender-inclusive language in general), we will have to get creative. How can we balance these images in other ways? How can we deliberately create the ambiguity necessary to allow the richness of God's nature to exist in our liturgies? How have you wrestled with these issues in your own congregations? What solutions have worked for you?