On Divine Parenthood
Julian of Norwich
April 1, 2000
Julian of Norwich referred to God as mother long before it was politically correct. When she wrote, at the end of the fourteenth century, the church was just emerging from a long period of emphasizing the doctrines of atonement and judgment, and was experiencing a renewed appreciation of the importance of creation and incarnation. This theological shift was mirrored in the rise of a new kind of spirituality—one which favored an emotional identification with Christ's humanity over stringent asceticism. Teachers and spiritual writers began to employ metaphors based on human relationships to describe our relationship with God. Because in medieval thought male was symbolically associated with spirit and female with flesh, God was seen as a father, but Christ, who took on human flesh, was often described as a mother. Julian of Norwich led the way, creating one of church history's most memorable descriptions of God as the ultimate parent. Through her writing, Julian articulates a vision of God's goodness with astonishing clarity and power. The apostle Paul asked, "He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?" Julian's answer: he has, he will.
—Annalaura Chuang
As truly a God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother, and he revealed that in everything, and especially in these sweet words where he says: I am he; that is to say: I am he, the power and goodness of fatherhood; I am he, the wisdom and the lovingness of motherhood; I am he, the light and the grace which is all blessed love; I am he, the Trinity; I am he, the unity; … I am he who makes you to love; I am he who makes you to long; I am he, the endless fulfilling of all true desires. ...
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