In a world in which most religions begin with God the Father or some sort of male image of the divine, and are founded by male figures such as Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, do we undervalue Motherhood or the role of women in faith?

There are 70 different names for God in the Hebrew Bible and sacred Jewish texts. Many are feminine, including Shechinah, which refers to the Indwellling/Closeness of God, and El Maleh Rachamim, which means God Full of Compassion (literally “like a Mother’s Womb”)! Even the biblical word for faith (Emunah) comes from the root word for mother (Em). A mother, therefore, is the source of faith, trust, and hope. One of my favorite Jewish expressions is, “God could not be everywhere, so God created mothers!”.

In a world in which most religions begin with God the Father or some sort of male image of the divine, and are founded by male figures such as Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, do we undervalue Motherhood or the role of women in faith?

First of all unquestionably man is the primary creation of humanity, but the woman was a necessary part in order for there to be procreation. So then woman was birthed out of mankind’s need for fulfillment and sustainment. God made Adam and Eve and respectfully gave them dominion over the earth.

All throughout scripture and history the need of womanhood or motherhood has been enormously substantiated. Even though Jesus was the Son of God, he had to be born of a Woman in order to properly atone for mans sins. It should also be noted that every human that we consider to have been a gift to the world, had to be first wrapped in the womb of a woman before his or her talent could be tested. That in itself is a great testimony to every mother, and that is to be given the opportunity to birth brand new Mercy to us every day. Who knows what the next mother will bring us as a gift from the Mind of God. Every birth though viewed as unexpected at times, was a part of the original Masters Plan. James 1:17 says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father…” Therefore in my opinion if God chooses every gift he also chooses who brings it into the world! A package solidifies that the gift was intentional or on purpose; therefore, Gift-Wrapping is important to the gift and to the recipient.

Remember packages come in all shapes, sizes and colors but they are still considered Gifts….Happy Mother’s Day!

In a world in which most religions begin with God the Father or some sort of male image of the divine, and are founded by male figures such as Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad, do we undervalue Motherhood or the role of women in faith?

This coming Mother’s Day, Mormons in churches around the globe will inevitably join each other in singing their cherished hymn, “O My Father”. Yes, it’s as ironic as it sounds. But, like most things religious, this is more complicated than it seems.

The Mormon habit of singing “O My Father” on Mother’s Day arises from a radical idea expressed by the hymn’s final verses. “In the heavens/Are parents single?/No, the thought makes reason stare!/Truth is reason; truth eternal/Tells me I’ve a mother there.” So go the lyrics that Eliza R. Snow wrote in 1845. The final verse begins, “When I leave this frail existence,/When I leave this mortal by,/Father, Mother, may I meet you/In your royal courts on high.”

The Mormon singing of “O My Father” on Mother’s Day is really an affirmation of a belief in a female deity, another one of the peculiarities that keeps Mormonism strange, and one that surely shows how Mormons don’t undervalue women.

But, like most things religious, this is more complicated than it seems.

Mormonism doesn’t give its divine Mother any identity, and it places her in a traditional partnership with a paternal god. Apart from the radical idea itself, Mormonism’s Mother in Heaven simply makes female subordination into a cosmic principle. The Mormon Father runs things, the Mormon Mother keeps out of the way.

But, like most things religious, this too is more complicated than it seems.

Many Mormonisms are trying very hard to be liked. Warren Jeffs and his crew, not so much. But the LDS church and the Community of Christ, the two largest Mormon denominations, want very much for the world to accept them, especially the Christian world. Since the Christian scriptures offer nothing in the way of a female deity, and since traditional Christian culture rejects the idea (the Virgin Mary, notwithstanding), Mormonism’s determination to make itself Christian prevents it from developing this pleasantly radical idea any further.

Mormonism may be a good model of the ambivalence about gender roles that we find in all religions. On the one hand, Mormonism reaches toward a parity it naturally intuits. On the other hand, it can’t bring itself to grab it. Religions do undervalue women. But they try very hard not to want to.

Tolstoy tried to simplify things. For the Count, emerging religions throughout history always started with the recognition of human equality. But, then, Tolstoy writes, “immediately those to whom inequality was advantageous endeavored to conceal this essential feature.” So, religions emerge with radical, progressive ideas, but inevitably give themselves over to the self-aggrandizement of the few to whom aggrandizement is important.

And, like most things religious and otherwise, Tolstoy’s insight is more complicated than it seems. Perhaps the Russian reads differently, but in at least one English translation, Tolstoy writes that new religions “always included the recognition of the equality of men…”