Lent, Day 23

Paul is describing a womb that we all are living in. People of all colors, all religions, all political and economic systems, are living, moving, and existing, within the cosmic womb of God. That God is birthing us into a new creation. “Born again” is a phrase that is so used within patriarchal circles that I wonder how many pause to see the beauty of the feminine in this.

In the book of Job we see the author transcend the gender of God:

Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?

Again in Deuteronomy:
You deserted the Rock, who fathered you;
you forgot the God who gave you birth.

Out of this all-encompassing womb, God has given birth not only to all human beings, but to the whole magnificent natural creation as well.

Paul discusses this kind of language for even Creation itself.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. -Romans 8 The hope of the new birth is our salvation.

God the Mother is giving birth to everything that is new. And in this we are given great joy.

“Are you asking one another what I meant when I said, ‘In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me’? Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.-John 16