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Showing posts from March, 2017

The Mother Heart of God?!

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,

Two Are Better Than One

This morning, typical of most Monday mornings once the children are delivered to school, I donned my lycra and set out for a run. Before anyone is too impressed, I feel I must clarify – my definition of ‘run’ is very loose; it usually involves some running, plenty of walking and a lot of chatting with my neighbour and another friend who has joined the ‘Monday run.’ We have been steadlily working through my Couch to 5K app, progressing to the giddy heights of Week 5 – in a year and a half! The difference this morning, was that neither my neighbour, nor my friend was available for our running rendezvous.   The mental battle began the moment I received their messages.   Suddenly the run was entirely unappealing.   Why would I want to get into my lycra and drag my wobbling self along our 5K route around the village alone? “I hope you’re impressed!” I boasted to my neighbour, as I passed her on the school run, feeling smug and pleased with myself that I’d made it this far.   She g