Our divine Mother loves us

A mother’s love can be so tender, comforting, and lasting. Poet Lola Ridge put it well, writing in “Mother,” “Your love was like moonlight / turning harsh things to beauty....”

And yet, no matter how powerful the love of a mother may feel, the relationship still has its limits. Many people have never known their mother. Others have had their mom around, but the relationship hasn’t been smooth sailing. And what happens when our mother passes away? This all can make us wonder if mother-love is ultimately variable and fleeting.

The Holy Bible draws on the image of motherhood as a symbol for how much God loves and cares for Her children. In the book of Isaiah, God says, “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you” (66:13). But the Scriptures draw the distinction that, unlike the affection that can come from a person, God’s love is truly infinite, a ceaseless fountain of care that never runs dry.

John’s first letter says that God is Love itself (see 4:8). What a thought ... that the creator of the universe is Love. Therefore God has no spot of hatred, anger, unkindness, apathy, discontent. As our Father-Mother, God is the ideal Parent – eternal and wholly good.

In the textbook of Christian Science, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” Mary Baker Eddy defines “Mother” as “God; divine and eternal Principle; Life, Truth, and Love” (p. 592).

As the children of God, we are also eternal and good, forever spiritual – forever at one with our divine Mother. That’s why human mothers can express such comforting love. In truth, all any of us can do is express love from God.

What a joy it is that we receive all the love we need directly from God. Christian Science brings out that whenever we feel spiritual love, it’s from our divine Mother. It’s an intimation of the grandness and completeness of divine Love filling all space, always with us, caring for us.

It takes turning away from an imperfect, material view of love to see how the Divine is expressing Herself in our lives. I’ve experienced this in my practice of Christian Science.

Growing up, there were certain circumstances in the family that meant my grandma and I just didn’t have a close relationship, even though we were often together. There came a time when I was going to visit her for a few days, and it would be just the two of us.

I was nervous about this trip. But through my study of the Bible and Science and Health, I knew there was a higher view to glean about my grandma and me. During my six-hour drive to see her, I reached out to God to glimpse more of this spiritual perspective.

As I prayed, I heard the message that my only job is to love. This was so powerful and clear that for most of that drive I just let it sink in. I became so focused on loving with a pure spiritual love that only sees God’s goodness and its expression, that my fears about the relationship were no longer part of my thinking. They had faded away.

From that time on, I felt a deep affection and support in our relationship that I cherished. And the bad memories that had before drawn a rift between us didn’t seem powerful or relevant anymore. I suppose we were seeing more of how divine Love loves us.

It’s so comforting that our divine Mother does love each of us so purely, including those precious people we call our mothers. This love isn’t ever inaccessible to us. At any moment, we can gratefully accept more of the goodness God is giving us. By basking in the free flow of God’s blessings, we can let any “harsh things” in our lives be transformed into beauty.