Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Can a woman forget her nursing-child,
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget,
yet I will not forget you.”
NL Daily Devotion for Tuesday, May 28, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Here, God is more loving, even, than a nursing mother. Scripture is full of feminine imagery for God, and what is more beautiful than this motherly image of God holding us in her arms, nourishing us at her breast, pledging never to forget us. Not all of us have had good relationships with our mothers, which makes such imagery hard to accept (in much the same way as so many have had bad relationships with fathers, making that image challenging). Perhaps we can then think of another woman (or man) in our lives who loved us unconditionally as a parent, and recognize their fidelity to us as in the image of a divine, loving parent. The point is that a parent (supposedly) loves and accepts us unconditionally, provides for all our needs, teaches us what we need to know in life, and never gives up on us. Such is God.
How does my relationship with my earthly parents inform my relationship with my heavenly parent?
