Womb Love
Some of us have been given mothers who are great. Some have been given a mom who isn’t so great. And some of us have been dealt with none. Really, Mother’s Day can be a mixed bag of emotions like Kyle said. It’s complicated. But real love isn’t.
We have expectations of what a mother should be even when we have a really great one. We have those moments where we say: “
Jeez, mom, why can’t you …” or “mom, why don’t you do this ...?” Sometimes, we forget how great our moms can be or we get stuck waiting for what our moms could be. Whether we’re aware or not, we have some expectations for our moms.
We might say a mom should be compassionate for her children, that she should have overflowing love, maybe slow to anger (I think we’ve all seen an angry mom - nobody wants that fury directed at them), and I would even throw in that we would expect a mom to be gracious and forgiving.
We would all agree that these qualities sum up to be a pretty good mom. One that wouldn’t let us down. One that we could call when we’re upset. One to tell us wise things. But, they would also do this all with that voice that says I love you so much.
What’s interesting, is that all of these internal characteristics become a common theme of who God is in the bible. Exodus 34:6 tells us of his personality that, “the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.”
Adding to this, the Hebrew word for compassion is Rakhum. This word, Rakhum, is uncoincidentally related to the word womb (Rekhem). If you knew Hebrew, you would pick up on things like this. If you watch Bible Project videos, you can also pick up on things like this ;).
These words aren’t linked together by chance. Moses, when writing Exodus, didn’t just write haphazardly. Authors toil and work to imagine how best to use words and relate them to things we all know. Exodus 34:6 is actually the first time God describes his character to Moses. It essentially becomes the thesis statement of the Old Testament.
These writers of the Old Testament knew no stronger form of compassion and being deeply moved than that of a mother carrying a child. Bearing a child. Raising a child. Jump ahead with me to the New Testament … Mary carrying a miraculous child. Bearing Jesus. Raising Jesus.
God loves us, just as Kyle said, like an expectant mother. God loves us better than we can imagine if we have a good mom, bad mom, or none at all. He loves us in ways we can’t imagine.
-Tim
Tim lives in Cortland with his wife, Christen, two dogs, and cat. He is an English Teacher at Bristol High School.
