Recently, I had an amusing conversation with a friend. Discussing the forthcoming Mothers' Day service and some of the recent controversy surrounding William Young's portrayal of God as a woman in his hit novel, 'The Shack', we began to wonder how it would sound if some well-known lyrics were changed to reflect this strange and unfamiliar idea. Suffice to say, the results were amusing (think 'Father God I Wonder', 'Good, Good Father,' and a few others thrown in)! It sounds so funny because we're so used to reflecting on God as Father - rightly because that's what He is! But any brief look into Old Testament descriptions of God's characteristics, reveals some clear, motherly features too - logically if you think about it because he created man AND woman in His image! Of course, whenever we try to generalise about any particular role, it is hard to avoid stereotyping - what may be true of one Mother may actually be true of another Father, ...