Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation calls us to repent, to turn away from the systemic evils of the military industrial complex. Pastor Dawn Hutchings, Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Mother’s Day 2018, John 17:6-11
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Join Pastor Tony Minear, Ph.D. as he explores how the words we use and the metaphors we devise to describe God can not only limit our perceptions of the divine but exclude a whole other dimension of the divine as mother.
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Nearly a century has passed since the Equal Rights Amendment was first proposed. Every other western democracy’s constitution includes a statement regarding gender equality but in the USA, we still need one more state to approve this long over due change. Women still earn significantly less than men and women of color earn even less. Sure, get your mom and card and flowers for Mothers’ Day but realize this: what she really wants is equal rights!
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Mothers’ Day is not on the church’s liturgical calendar and yet the statisticians tell us that church attendance on Mothers’ Day is surpassed only by Christmas and Easter. Worship leaders who fail to mark the importance of this day do so at their peril; the same kind of peril that compels so many reluctant offspring to accompany their mothers to church. However, a simple liturgical nod in the direction of mothers or an over-the-top sentimental sermon all too often fails to capture the magnitude of the day’s significance in the history of women.
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The 19th century English poet and mystic William Blake summed it up well when he said, “We are put on earth for a little space that we may learn to bear the beams of love.”
The spiritual teacher Henri Nouwen added that our time on earth is a brief span to say to God, “I love you too.”
El Shaddai, Eloheim, Rauach, Chokma, Rechem, YAHWEH, these are the ancient biblical Hebrew names for the reality that we call God. El Shaddai which translates as “she – breasted one, ”Eloheim which is the feminine plural for “majesty,” Rauach a feminine word for “wind” “breath” “spirit,” Chokma, a feminine word for “wisdom.” Rechem also a feminine word which translates as “ womb love” mother love, compassion. YAHWEH – I AM, WHO AM or I shall be who I shall be Ancient biblical Hebrew names for the reality that we call God.
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I sing a song of the woman’s voice
Tender and strong and clear;
Of those who longed to gain the vote
Despite men’s doubt and fear;
Nobody’s Fault But Mine is old well known blues-gospel song. In honor of all the mothers and in honor that all of us can continue to carry music in such a spirit.
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“you who delight me” is in two parts:
poems of love—secular and spirited writing about people, places and events; and
words of spirit and faith—inclusive language, contemporary liturgies for individual contemplation and progressive faith communities.
We give thanks for families of all shapes and sizes, which provide such an important basis for love and support in our society.
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Today we celebrate mothers in all their diversity:
Mothers who experienced the joy and challenge of pregnancy and childbirth to bring another human being into the world
In the young, elders hope for justice.
In elders, the young see the wisdom of faith.
