March 11, 2026

Wednesday Word . . . Women

March is Women's History Month. Like Black History Month, this is a time to recognize people who have made an impact on society but who also, because of their skin color or gender, have been removed from or ignored in mainstream history. To be honest, this celebration and month of recognizing women in society slipped past me unnoticed.

As I've mentioned before, a group of us are reading Honest to Goodness: Discovering the Truth and Beauty of a Loving God through Lent and discussing it after the 10:00 service. The subject for today's devotional is “I will comfort you like a mother.”

In a number of places Holy Scripture uses feminine imagery to describe God. From the creation story where both men and women were created in the image of God to Isaiah describing God as a mother comforting her children to Jesus longing to gather up God's children as a mother hen gathers her chicks, and others, Scripture makes clear that God is not a boy's name and neither is God male or female, but that male and female are both in the image of God.

Even with these scriptural images of God in the feminine, we overwhelmingly ascribe male attributes to God. Images of king, father, or warrior dominate. Even images of inanimate things – rock, wind, shield, and others – seem to be more prevalent in our thinking than feminine images.

How might our image of God change if we were willing to see God in the feminine? In our attempts to be more godlike, how might our relationships with others change if we became more motherly as God is motherly?

Here's something to consider during this Women's History Month and this season of Lent:  Could having feminine images of God help draw us closer to the divine?

May you continue to have a blessed Lent,