When I told John the title of this reflection, he said “Mother of All” made him think of a boxing match which was known as the “mother of all fights”. I think I remember the same phrase being applied during the Gulf War, and it’s entered the language in a more general way now, to mean the One which makes all the others look like mere babies. It’s a kind of oxymoronic phrase when it’s used in relation to wars, isn’t it? Fighting wars is clearly at odds with nurturing babies, and it’s that sense, the nurturing sense, on which I’m reflecting this morning, though the element of giving birth is also vitally connected with the word “mother,” whether the baby is War or Peace.
We’re now in the midst of a season of “birthing” festivals. The ones with which we may be most familiar are the Wiccan celebration of the Goddess giving birth to the life-sustaining Sun, and Christianity’s honoring of Mary, the mother of Jesus. I thought it would be good to ponder this morning the respect that we find in many traditions for those who give birth, and to reflect on the many forms of life which can be birthed and nurtured, regardless of biology. Because I expected that we would be a smallish group this morning, in light of the intergenerational service this evening, I thought it might be a good time also to allow for more interaction in the reflection, less of a one-way project of me talking and you listening. So I’m going to intersperse a few ideas of my own with some questions for you to ponder in quietness and respond to if you wish. I will ask that if you do speak, you then allow opportunities for others to take their turn before you speak again.
Last year, on the evening of December 21st, we held a Solstice celebration here, and these were some of the words I used at the beginning of that service – words which are equally applicable to this December 22nd celebration, because the Winter Solstice actually occurred in the early hours of this very morning:
We meet here at the still point of the turning year,
In a space between the worlds,
In this womb of sacred quietness,
To celebrate the Solstice mysteries.
Let the darkness of this season enfold and embrace you.
Let it rock you gently.
Be still, be still.
A little later, Jane Keller, who was one of the participants in the service, referred again to the darkness of the season, and again to the womblike nature of it, as she said,
Do not be afraid: we are born of this magic.
It fills our dreams that root, and unravel, and reweave themselves
Only in the shelter of darkness.
Darkness has its own hue, its own resonance, its own breath.
It fills our soul, not with despair, but with promise
Darkness is the gestation of our deep knowing self
Darkness is the cave in which we rest and renew our soul
We are born of darkness, and each night we return
To the dark moist womb of our beginnings.
Take a moment to ponder this imagery of the dark womb and to search for any resonance the image has for you. Ask yourself,
What are the dreams that are rooting and unravelling and reweaving in the darkness of your inner life?
What, and where, for you, is the cave in which you rest and renew your soul?
Can you return, even if only for a little while, to the womb of your beginnings, when everything was fresh and unknown, so that there is the possibility of a new birth?
And if you would like to tell us anything of your thoughts, that will be good...
Also in the Winter Solstice celebration, these questions and answers may occur:
What is our Goddess?
She is the cold of space, the lightless womb of existence, the deepest abyss.
Who is our Goddess?
She is the Virgin of Light, the Crone of Darkness, the Mother of Time.
Where is our Goddess?
She is in our hearts in all seasons of the turning year.
Who is our Goddess?
Behold, she is ourselves.
Take a moment to ponder this imagery of the Goddess, and to search for any resonance the image has for you. Ask yourself,
What is your Goddess, your generative and nurturing Power -- how would you
describe her?
Where is your Goddess in this season of the year – where do you find her?
In what aspects of yourself and your life can your Goddess be seen?
And if you would like to tell us anything of your thoughts, that will be good...
In Winter Solstice celebrations, we come back again and again to the imagery of the womb, the Mother, gestation and birth. Here’s another piece:
In the beginning we came from the darkness of the womb.
There we were created, nourished and prepared for our birth into the light.
Within us, we still carry that fertile darkness.
There we hold the seeds of hopes and dreams to come.
There we nourish our hopes for love, joy and peace for all.
We shield these tender roots until they are strong enough
To come forth and flourish in the light.
As the sun strengthens above, so will our new ways grow and bloom.
Take a moment to ponder this imagery of the fertile seeds and the seedlings coming forth, and to search for any resonance the image has for you. Ask yourself,
What are you called to birth in your life?
What are you called to make new, to bring forward into the light?
Spend a little time now tending these creations-yet-to-come. Name them to yourself, nurture them, so that they will grow with you in the coming year.
And if you would like to tell us anything of your thoughts, that will be good. ...
I didn’t know until a few days ago that the Solstice is celebrated not only in Wicca and other pagan or earth-centred traditions, but in Shinto, one of the religions of Japan. My Multi-Faith Calendar tells me that on this day, December 22nd, there is a Grand Ceremony of the Winter Solstice with symbolism very similar to the observances we think of as pagan. In the east as well as the west, the earth Mother gives birth to the Sun on this day.
In three days from now, millions of Christians all over the world will be celebrating birth and motherhood with different imagery from that of the Solstice, but with a spirit and meaning that may have much in common with the earlier images. Mary, the mother of Jesus, will be honoured as the one who was chosen to give birth to divinity. Some of you have known from your earliest childhood the prayer which goes:
Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with you.
Blessed art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Take a moment to ponder this Catholic Christian imagery and to search for any resonance the image has for you. Ask yourself,
What would it mean to be full of grace, and are you ever conscious of being so?
In what ways is your life fruitful -- what are the blessed fruits of your life?
Is there a Presence which mediates and intercedes for you with the Powers of the Universe, and will that Presence be there up to the very end of your life?
And if you would like to tell us anything of your thoughts, that will be good. ...
I’ll end these reflections, which have been yours as well as mine, with a short section from the Christmas story as it appears in Luke’s gospel; it’s just after the angels have appeared to the shepherds, telling them to go to Bethlehem:
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds ..... went with haste, and found Mary and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they saw it they made known the saying which had been told them concerning this child; and all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart.
As we move into the most festive days of the year, may we be open to all the birthing and nurturing possibilities which have been suggested to us or which we have discovered within ourselves. And may we keep all these things, pondering them in our hearts, giving them the warm and fertile and sustaining environment in which they may come to fruition. “Mother of all, in every age ...... Teach us compassion’s gentle face ....... And for the dreams your joy gives birth, a hopeful future raise.”