Divine Mother  

Order of Service - Script 

for Sunday: May 14, 2023 

Divine Mother 

Many religions, including some expressions of Christianity, regard God as both Father and Mother.

NIUU, Jeanie Donaldson, Pastor Fred 

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Prelude - Annie Laurie, folk song, arrangement by Dennis Alexander 

Announcements and Welcome Hymn #188: 

Come, Come, Whoever you are, 

Wanderer, Worshiper, Lover of Leaving, 

Ours is no caravan of Despair,

Come, yet again, come! 

Lighting the Chalice: 

Mother's Day Chalice Lighting

By Claudene (Deane) Oliva

We light this chalice for mothers and mothering;

to celebrate those who have taken on the task of nurturing a young one-baby, child, or youth-into adulthood;

to celebrate those who have nourished the light of truth and compassion in growing minds and hearts;

to celebrate those who have committed time, money, energy to the growth of others in this world.

We light this chalice to celebrate and hold dear this flame of love. 

Opening Words: ­­­

Eternal God, Mother and Father, Spirit of life,

By M. Susan Milnor

Eternal God, Mother and Father, Spirit of life, we gather grateful for the companionship of hearts and minds seeking to speak the truth in love. We gather grateful for our heritage, for the women and men before us whose prophetic words and deeds make possible our dreams and our insight. We gather grateful for the gift of life itself, mindful that to respect life means both to celebrate what life is and to insist on what it can become.

May we always rejoice in life and work to cultivate a sense of its giftedness, but may we also heed the call to transformation and growth. May we find in ourselves the strength to face our adversities, the integrity to name them, and the vision to overcome them. May we honor in pride the heroines and heroes of our past, but may we also keep company with the fallen, the broken and the oppressed, for in the dazzling of noon day's heat, and in the star-studded shimmering of night's rich blackness, we are they. Amen.

Hymn #1069: Ancient Mother

Ancient mother I hear you calling

Ancient mother I hear your song

Ancient mother I hear your laughter

Ancient mother I taste your tears

Covenant: 

Love is the spirit of this church, and service its law

This is our great covenant:

To dwell together in peace,

To seek truth in love,

And to help one another. 

Joys and Concerns (with lighting of candles of caring) 

Story and Meditation: 

Desert Spring

By Victoria Safford

They had no idea where they were going, when they left that night, in the dark, without lights, without shoes, without bread, their children smothered against them so they would make no noise.

They had no idea what they were getting into, following this Moses, this wild-eyed one who claimed visions and made promises but who after all could guarantee them nothing, except death if they were caught.

They had no idea, these slaves, what it could mean, this promise of land (their own country) and life abundant. Of freedom they knew nothing, except what they could taste by living in its opposite, slavery, and that taste became a hunger, and that hunger became insatiable till they were ravenous for freedom, and they went out then—but no one knows to this day whether they were led by Moses or by the outstretched arm and mighty hand of something else, of something eternal (as they would afterwards and always claim), or whether their own human, hungry will made them flee that night from Pharaoh.

They went into the wilderness. There they wandered forty years, which in those days was a lifetime. Forty was a good, old age, so many of them died before getting anywhere, and many were born in the desert and grew to adulthood knowing nothing but the journey—not slavery, not freedom, just the going. They whined and complained and muttered, and some mutinied, for they were a stiff-necked and rebellious people (you can read it for yourself); ungrateful people, even when manna rained down from heaven and quails were sent to feed them; unhappy people, longing, out loud even, for the familiar security of Egypt, of all places, where at least they knew what to expect, as awful as it was; impatient people, making cheap little idols and gods of metal to bargain with in secret when the traveling got hard or merely dull, and the days and years became monotonous.

In the springtime we remember: the promised land is not a destination—it is a way of going. The land beyond the Jordan, that country of freedom and dignity and laughter—you carry it inside you all the while. It is planted in your mind and heart already, before you ever start out, before it even occurs to you that in order to leave that life in Egypt, the intolerable bondage of that life, what you need to do is stand up and walk forward. 

Hymn #1008 - When Our Heart is in a Holy Place

Chorus:

When our heart is in a holy place,

When our heart is in a holy place,

We are bless’d with love and amazing grace,

When our heart is in a holy place.

When we trust the wisdom in each of us,

Ev’ry color ev’ry creed and kind,

And we see our faces in each other’s eyes,

Then our heart is in a holy place.

Chorus

When we tell our story from deep inside,

And we listen with a loving mind,

And we hear our voices in each other’s words,

Then our heart is in a holy place.

Chorus

When we share the silence of sacred space,

And the God of our Heart stirs within,

And we feel the power of each other’s faith,

Then our heart is in a holy place.

Chorus

Sermon: 

The Divine Mother is the Goddess. 

By speaking of Her today I’m not trying to convert anyone to Goddess worship, Neopaganism, nor to anything else. 

I’m simply trying to expand our horizons and understanding.

From ancient times until today, people have worshiped gods and goddesses who are like themselves. 

We are male and female, and so we want the Divine Being also to be both male and female, as we are. 

Speaking of God tells us a great deal about ourselves. 

Speaking of ourselves tells us a great deal about God. 

The idea in the Creation story of Genesis, that we were created in the image and likeness of God, is one traditional source of the concept I’m speaking of: 

God created us in God’s own image, and we turned around and returned the favor. (loosely based on a quote from Voltaire) 

So whether we believe in God or not, the concepts hold: 

Parents, both mothers and fathers, are often understood to be examples of the loving care given by the Creator. 

Some of us are parents, and for many parents, that can be the most satisfying experience of our lives. 

So it may be with most of our concepts of God. 

Creatures who share many of the divine attributes, as our children share many of our own, can be a source of joy as well as frustration! 

Different expressions of religion recognize the Divine Mother, including some forms of Christianity. 

Early forms of Judaism saw God as Mother and Father. 

The term of strong endearment for God, Abba in Aramaic, means both Father and Mother. 

Islam at first had three Goddesses who were worshiped at the Kaaba. 

Muhammad was quoted as saying that their intercession was much to be desired. 

Their names and their importance in Islam were recorded in the Surah (chapter) of the Quran that became known as the Satanic Verses. 

Like the Bible, the Quran is divided into chapters (surahs) and verses (ayats). 

Almost needless to say, the “Satanic Verses” did not continue to be a part of Muslim faith. 

In fact, the goddesses would not have found a place in the strict monotheism that Islam became. 

[Moving right along…] 

Not too many people are fully aware of it these days, but members of the deeply conservative Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the Mormons, believe in the Divine Mother. 

God, they believe and teach, is our Father and also our Mother. 

In fact, they believe in Three Persons, corresponding to the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and they believe that each one of them has a spouse, a wife. 

Together as Father and Mother they are called our Heavenly Parents, and this can be taken quite literally in their faith, since Mormons believe that all human beings are spiritually their children. 

Another form of Christianity that believes in the Divine Mother is Christian Science, the religious movement founded by Mary Baker Eddy. 

The form of the Lord’s Prayer in her magnum opus, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, begins with the words, “Our Father, Mother God.” 

Mary Baker Eddy provided her own interpretation of many religious teachings, and sometimes her insights can be inspiring and enlightening. 

A brilliant contemporary theologian, Lisa Whitlow, also happens to be my dear friend, my ex-wife, and the mother of our children, Kevin and Karen. 

She has composed one of the best interpretations of the Lord’s Prayer that I have ever seen, and it encompasses the concept of God / Goddess as both Father and Mother. 

Here it is: 

Lord's Prayer by Lisa: 

Our Father, Mother God, 

You are in us and all around us. 

Oh, one of many names, we delight in you. 

May your Kingdom quickly come. 

May your Will be done in all the Universe. 

Grant us each day our portion of Bread and Wisdom. 

When we fail to honor the divine in ourselves and in others, open our hearts.

May we not be tempted by empty pleasures. 

May we be sheltered from evil. 

For yours is the Kingdom, the Power of Love, and the Radiance of All Creation. 

Amen. 

It’s important to note that many religions believe in the Divine Mother. 

Hindus believe in Her. 

Each member of the Hindu Holy Trinity has a spouse. 

The wife of Brahma is Saraswati. 

The wife of Vishnu is Lakshmi. 

The wife of Siva is Parvati, also known as Uma, and the name Uma can easily be interpreted as the Great Mother.  

Buddhists also have their own understanding of the Divine Mother. 

One of their greatest saints and goddesses is the Goddess of Compassion,  Guan Yin, whose many arms care for us all. 

As we think of the Divine Mother, I feel that we cannot afford to neglect the Christian concept of the Mother of God. 

Most Christians are devoted to Mary, the Mother of Jesus in some sense, not as a goddess, but as a representative of holy motherhood. 

She is believed by many to be a caregiver for all people, and for many people that means she is one who prays for us all. 

In the sense of praying for everyone, also known as intercession, Mary can be said to resemble the three Goddesses of early Islam. 

Mother nature is the form of the Divine Mother of whom we speak frequently. 

She is the source of care for all of Creation. 

Likewise, Mother Earth is the source of all life, and is remembered these days as Gaia. 

On Mothers’ Day we can do no better than to consider the great truth that all our mothers, including Mother Nature and Mother Earth, have a unique quality: the ability to give birth to new life. 

Not all women are or can be mothers, but all human beings participate in motherhood and fatherhood, because all of us have parents. 

We are here, in this world, because we have mothers and fathers. 

We can always appreciate the life that has come to us through them. 

As UU’s we can reflect on divinity as a reference to our appreciation of each other. 

As the ancient oracle at Delphi said, “Know Thyself!” 

Truly to know and understand ourselves is to understand the nobility and divinity in each and every one of us. 

Alongside such a noble view of self knowledge, of course, there has to be a recognition that none of us is exempt from the degradation that human life can sink to. 

Any parent can be a representative of the divine parent of our own gender, Mother or Father, and any parent can fall into the dangers of selfishness. 

If human parents can consider the needs of their children first and foremost, they can represent divine motherhood or fatherhood, not in any doctrinal sense, but in a most practical sense. 

A child can begin to understand the world as a potentially beneficial place or as a potentially harmful place. 

It is up to parents to provide the guidance that will lead to balance. 

Unguarded optimism and unmitigated pessimism can each be equally dangerous to the mind and life of a child. 

So the Divine Mother of us all, our own mothers at their best, can teach us the kind of balance that can protect us from the dangers of trusting too much or too little in our lives. 

Divinity is a quality of caring more than any other single characteristic. 

The Divine Mother is the One who cares. 

Caring about and for each other is the heart of parenting. 

In the biological sense, one can be a parent and never care for or about one’s children. 

In the spiritual sense we can be caring parents without ever giving birth. 

The Divine Mother is the One whose caring makes our life possible as well as good. 

Whether She is a transcendent being, beyond our world, is a matter for faith and debate. 

The important point for us here and now is that She is a part of us, and Her life among us is the result of choices we can make every day. 

Some of us can and will look for Her outside and beyond ourselves. 

Some of us can and will look for Her inside and within ourselves. 

I prefer to do both. 

Looking within and without can enable us to sustain meaningfully faithful relationships based on loving care with the different aspects of ourselves and with each other. 

Amen. 

Let it be. 

Blessed be. 

Congregational Response 

Offering Information 

Charity of the Month: 

Kootenai Environmental Alliance

Our Mission

To conserve, protect and restore the environment,

with a particular emphasis on the Idaho

Panhandle and the Coeur d’Alene basin.

Many communities worldwide are helping their

citizens adapt to climate change,

and KEA is working to educate

locals on the effects of climate

change in this region.

Donations

to our Charity of the Month, NIUU pledges and regular church offerings can be mailed to NIUU at:

NIUU

P.O. Box 221

CDA ID 83816

Extinguishing the Chalice and Closing words: 

A Springtime Prayer

By George A Tyger

We extinguish our chalice, remembering: 

Sun cuts through trees, casting shadows of the trunks on a woodland floor, with a lake in the distance.

Oh power of springtime,

Spirit of green grasses and warm breezes;

Goddess of creativity

of birth

of life renewed

You sing all about us at this time.

The birds call your sacred name.

Buds burst forth with your vestment.

The sun reaches higher into the sky

shining the light of this new day

through the windows of your cathedral,

this world.

Oh power of springtime

forgive us our speediness

and our racing before your

eternal grace

that we do not see

the miracle world we share.

Open our eyes with your warmth

and our hearts with your beauty

slow our minds with awe and wonder.

Dear Spirit of green grasses

and warm breezes;

let us take from here,

from these moments of quiet

the grace of your breath

as we breathe into our bodies

the spirit of spring. 

Closing Circle