[This post is excerpted and edited from a previously published post.]

Celebrating earthly motherhood in worship is problematic on many levels. But lifting up the maternal qualities of God is, it seems to me, a valuable way to observe the holiday. After all, the earliest roots of Mother’s Day can be found in Greek and Roman celebrations honoring the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. And the modern manifestation of the holiday in the United States is based on women’s efforts toward peace, justice, and equal rights.

The foundational Biblical image of God as creator is strikingly feminine. The writer of Deuteronomy chastises the people saying: “You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth” (32:18). And in Isaiah God says she “will cry out like a woman in labor, I will gasp and pant” (42:14).

The Biblical images of God as a nurturing mother provide a necessary corrective to contemporary religious rhetoric about judgment and punishment, getting even and building walls. In Isaiah God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you” (66:13). Hosea writes these words from God’s mouth: “I led them with cords of human kindness, / with ties of love. / To them I was like one who lifts / a little child to the cheek, / and I bent down to feed them” (11:4).

And another Biblical image is a necessary corrective to our tendency to think of mothers only as gentle nurturers: God says, “Like a bear robbed of her cubs, / I will attack them and rip them open” (Hosea 13:8).

I love that some of these images are soft and comforting, while others are powerful and disturbing. Motherhood is as much about wailing in labor and viciously protecting our children as it is about kissing booboos and singing lullabies. In fact, some experiences of motherhood involve far more wailing than kissing.

It is important, not just on Mother’s Day, that we acknowledge the complicated identity of being a mother (or not) and the complex relationships that many people have with their mothers and other maternal figures.

It is important, not just on Mother’s Day, that we lift up the fullness of God and explore the rich and varied images for the Divine provided in the Bible and other religious texts. This broadened conversation matters not just because it allows us to understand God more fully, but also because it allows us to move beyond the strictly gendered ways we think about each other.

Many theologians will argue that God is neither male nor female. I prefer to consider God as female and male and non-gendered and multi-gendered. We could say that God is gender fluid, or gender queer: a fierce mother bear one moment and a generous father the next (Matthew 7:11); a father whispering secrets to children and a mother gasping and panting in childbirth (Matthew 11:25, Isaiah 42:14); an eagle spreading its wings to catch its young and a hen gathering her chicks to her warm body  (Deuteronomy 32:11; Matthew 23:37).

Perhaps Mother’s Day can be a time to question rather than reinforce the gender binary and stereotypes so prevalent in our society. Rather than feeling shame around our own experiences with mothers and motherhood, it can be a day for us to acknowledge that none of us have perfect mothers; that none of us are or will be or would have been perfect mothers.

And if we must celebrate this secular holiday in the holy space of worship, perhaps it can be a time for us to recognize and celebrate the fullness of Divine identity; a time to praise the mothering God who gave us birth, to rest under the warmth of her wings, and to find power in her fierce love. 

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Below are a few worship pieces that are appropriate for Mother’s Day.

Call to Worship
(Deuteronomy 32:18; Isaiah 42:14; Matthew 23:37)

Come, let us worship our Creator—
The Rock who bore us, the God who gave us birth.
Let us listen for the One who cries out, like a woman in labor—
Gasping and panting to bring new life into the world.
Let us rest near the heart of our mothering God—
Gathered under her warm, strong wings.

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Call to Worship
(Psalm 131; Luke 13:34-35)

Our Creator longs
to gather us under her wings.
We long
to rest near the Divine heartbeat.
In this sacred space of worship,
God’s longing and our longing meet.
Like sheltered chicks,
Like weaned children,
We rest here and are renewed.

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Prayer of Thanksgiving

Mothering God,
For your creative, creating energy,
We give you thanks.
For groaning in labor pains,
We give you thanks.
For the tears you shed,
We give you thanks.
For the shelter of your wings,
We give you thanks.
For stirring our nests and carrying us aloft,
We give you thanks.
For feeding us and weaning us and holding us,
We give you thanks.
For the fierce strength of your love,
We give you thanks.

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Prayer of Blessing for Mother’s Day (and other days):

Holy One, today we pray for all who share
in your creative power,
your nurturing energy,
your fierce protection,
your unconditional love.

Whatever titles they carry,
Whatever genders they are,
We offer this prayer for all who bear your Mothering Spirit:

Protect the protectors;
Comfort the comforters.
Nourish those who provide nourishment for others.
Grant your holy energy to those birthing new life in this world.
Provide sacred rest for the weary,
Divine wisdom for the bewildered,
Grace upon grace for the brokenhearted.

For all who gasp and pant with you in life-giving labor,
Grant your blessing,
Grant your peace.

Amen.