Dame Julian (1343-1416?) was an English mystic whose book “Showings” marks the earliest work in English by a woman. Around age 30 she became severely ill and had a series of visions or showings about the passion of Jesus which she wrote down. Some years later she reflected on these visions in a longer version of “Showings.” Around the same time, she became an anchoress, a woman who lives completely by herself. She lived in a sealed cell attached to a church in Norwich, England.

Here’s a quote from her: “The mother can lay her child tenderly to her breast, but our tender Mother Jesus can lead us easily into his blessed breast through his sweet open side, and show us there a part of the godhead and of the joys of heaven, with inner certainty of endless bliss … This fair lovely word ‘mother’ is so sweet and so kind in itself that it cannot truly be said of anyone or to anyone except of him and to him who is the true Mother of life and of all things. To the property of motherhood belong nature, love, wisdom, and knowledge, and this is God.”

Does the language strike you as odd? It wasn’t to Julian, and it has proved to be comforting to many people. Sometimes our human ideas of what God is like need shaking up. I’m not telling people to pray to Mother Jesus, but next time you pray try associating all the qualities of a mother with God. It might give you a different perspective.

Read Isaiah 66:13 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne