In the Breath of Your Being

The Firth of Fifth
Painting by Judith Spoelhof

In the Breath of Your Being

My Godde

Let me step into the breath of your being

let me hold onto your hand for a while

let me enter your space

lean into your peace

embraced by your essence

safe in your arms

let me rest my head against your breast

and absorb the beauty of your Wisdom

Please help me always trust your voice 

remembering to breathe in You

with thanks

-JoMae 

  2/28/07 

Word of Creation - Word of Promise

Word of Creation - Word of Promise

 In the beginning was the Word - John 1:1

The Word first brought about creation 

Order from chaotic nothingness

God spoke and the world began to form

The Holy Word called forth perfection that

Mortals, although made in their Creator's image,

Were unable to maintain. Life became death 

Creation was broken - yet held together by 

The Almighty's love and laws and hope 

For the promise of a future restoration

~ ~ ~  ~ ~ ~

The Word of promise came in person

To speak healing, life and a new beginning

To walk and talk with mortals once again

Divine Light entered our dark broken world;

Messiah, promised Word, named Jesus Christ,

Born human, he knew our pain and fear and loss

Christ touched and taught the way back to life eternal

Modeling for all the true manner of being human:

Love, accept, respect; serve and submit 

- And be willing to die for another -

-JoMae                      

  9/23/15                     

Touch of Gold

 A Touch of Gold

We're poking around the Finger Lakes today


In summer's final breeze and sunshine


Under endless skies of blue

Bright cotton clouds float lazily


Trailing their shadows along the hills

Here and there a touch of gold gleams through 


On this pre-autumn day - 


A promise of more color yet to come


Before the winter of our lives

                                                                      JoMae


                                                                           9/17/15   

  By Seneca Lake at Watkins Glen           

Radiant August Sky

Iridescent Blue

A canopy of iridescent blue peeks through the leaves today

Accenting assorted shades of green outstretched above

Lifting a luminescent glow from the black eyed susans

Marking in bold the trunks and 

limbs encircling our city yard

Feels like a small quiet

clearing in a forest

Feels like home

                                                            -JoMae

                                                             8/23/15

One and One

One and One Equals 55
and Counting
(in celebration of a long loved marriage)

The two are one
As surely as if
Once one, then split apart,
They'd been reunited -
A perfect match.

As if at first sight after separation 

They'd recognized a missing part  -

That she was a bone of his own bones

He flesh of her own flesh.

No, not the perfection of that storied pair

In their ancient Eden,

But close.

Thankfully, close.

                                                     -JoMae

                                                     8/4/15

The man said,

   “This is now bone of my bones

     and flesh of my flesh;

     she shall be called ‘woman,’

     for she was taken out of man.”

Genesis 2:23

Dwell In Me

DWELL IN ME

Jesus Our Immanuel, 

In this quiet place please fill 

this waiting space within my

heart and guide my way.

Please sit with me and

let me hear your voice,

sense your presence and

know your listening ear.

Please hear my cry, my tales, 

my joys, my doubts - my thanks and 

adoration. Like a small child with her

Mother, may my soul be at peace in you.

O BLESSED SPIRIT

                                                  
                                                              -JoMae

                                                               6/13/15

At 80

Love On The Back Stoop At 80

Summer day

Morning calm

Coffee on the porch for two

Relishing the colors of his garden 

White daisies brilliant in a patch of sun

Crowned by golden lilies and shades of lavender

Warmed by a poem she shares

And his drawing of a patio design

Sharing plans for their day - and for their tomorrows

He's off to build her patio

She to catch the music in a gentle breeze; to write

'Til supper time

 Hearts still quickened by love first discovered in their 20s

                                                                 -JoMae  
                                                               7/20/15

PURPOSE

Purpose

Some days I wander through the hours

On seemingly meaningless routes

Yet in the end I recognize that

Each word I hear or read or write

Finds its place within a larger

Purpose 

                                              -JoMae

                                              7/20/15

I'll Love You Forever - A guest post by Paul Spoelhof

Mother Dearest

Hi Mom,

The other night Henri chose the book "I'll love you forever" as a bed time book.  It was late and he had procrastinated his way through putting pjs on and brushing teeth but he just wasn't ready to sleep.  He often asks for a book even when he knows we're exhausted and the answer will likely be "not tonight sweetie. Maybe tomorrow if you can get ready for bed more quickly." On that night though, he was especially clever.  He pulled the book off the shelf, got onto his bed and when I came in to tuck him in, he held up the book and said will you read just this book to me tonight.  I choked back a giggle and tried to be serious about bed time, but he said, "you know you really like this book.  You want to read it to me, don't you."  I asked him what gave him the idea that I like the book so much and he said "Your voice always get so quiet when you read the mother's song."  Garrett heard this from the other room and said, "yeah dad, when you read that book it seems like you're reading it to yourself and have forgotten that we are even there."

I never realized that it was so obvious, but they are right right, I do love that book.  I love the fact that the story traces the life of the mom and son; that it comes full-circle in more ways than one; mom singing the lullaby to son, son singing it to mom, and then son singing it to a baby daughter.  There are a lot of useful life lessons in that book, but that's not why I can't resist it.  When I read that book out loud to one of the boys, you are right there reading it to me.  

I can't explain what it is about the book.  It's probably not just one thing, but a combination of the illustrations reflecting the style and gadgetry of my childhood and the rhythm of the story reflecting a poem or song; something I associate closely with you.   I'm pretty sure it was not a book that was around when you were reading me bedtime stories.  So, it probably isn't an actual memory of you reading it; unless the memory is of you reading it to the boys.  But when I read the chorus that is the mother's song to her son, I sing it in a simple cadence to the most basic melody; barely singing it at all, and every time I can hear you singing to me. 

I love you forever

I'll like you for always

As long as you're living

My baby you'll be 

I cherish that chorus.  I even hate to get to the end of it, especially the last one.  Sometimes, if I get it just right I can hear your voice deliver the first few words on the following page as well.  Other times, if I try too hard to make it happen, my voice is the only one I can hear.  Those are disappointing moments but your voice usually reappears magically the next time the chorus comes up.  I am so lucky to have a mom who manages to read me stories and sing to me, even now; when it is way past my bedtime.

I love you forever

I'll like you for always

As long as I'm living 

My mother you'll be

Paul

-----------------

This lovely Mother's Day email from 2011 warmed my heart at the time and is a hug that I go back to often!  It's long past time to share it here.  Thanks Paul!

God Beyond Language

~ God Beyond Language ~

When an admired and accomplished teacher leans down to explain something to a three year old, she doesn't use all of the words in her vocabulary. She chooses those a child can understand. Words that build on concepts already known to his limited mind.

Perhaps, when our great all knowing God bends down to explain the Divine to our small minds, a similar thing happens. God uses the familiar to help us begin to comprehend a mystery - the fullness of which is so many times greater than we are that we can never truly grasp it all. The Godhead. So God speaks of One who has hands and arms to carry beloved children or rescue them from danger. Who knows us already in the womb, gives life and nourishes us. Who knows both birth and death, good and evil. Who knows all about both anger and love. Who teaches about fear and pain as well as healing and joy. Who offers both comfort and justice. All of which a mortal can comprehend from personal experience.

From heaven's vast and perfect realm, God enters our lives, takes our hands and carries us as children. Out of abundant language far beyond our own; far beyond our capabilities, God teaches us on our own level, the way of salvation. Offering a glimpse of eternity and giving the joy of Christ's Spirit to guide our way.

The people, now thinking we grasp the essence of our Creator, interpret and express our view of God's self as a gloriously magnificent manifestation of ourselves. Forgetting the incomprehensible enormity of ONE who holds the oceans in cupped hands, weighs mountain ranges on a scale and counts the stars by name. Forgetting that God is not created in our image.

We tend to forget that God's language goes far beyond any we will ever learn on this earth. That God is so much greater than our vocabulary is able to express. We tend think too small. We tend to limit God.

JoMae

6/3/15

A Mother's Day Echo of Psalm 131:2

  Like A Weaned Child With Its Mother

Like a weaned

 child with its Mother,

My spirit is quiet within me

Like a weaned child

 with its Mother,

My soul is at peace in Godde

A Little Lullaby for Grownups on difficult days - my echo of Psalm 131:2 

         Reminding me that my LORD (YHWH) is also my Mother

 

Psalm 131

A song of ascents. Of David.

1My heart is not proud, Lord,

my eyes are not haughty;

I do not concern myself with great matters

or things too wonderful for me.

2But I have calmed and quieted myself,

I am like a weaned child with its mother;

like a weaned child I am content.

3Israel, put your hope in the Lord

both now and forevermore.   (NIV)

The Joy of Cooking

The Joy of Cooking 

Our daughter loves to cook

An interest held in common with her Dad

A long time craft for her

His honed in later years

Upon retirement

I love to see their heads bent over recipes

Chopping, stirring, baking

Or watching cooking shows

When we're vacationing together

And re-connect

Then off they go for groceries

To create their perfect menu

While I observe with joy -

One eye in my book

The other on my writing pad

Snapping word pictures 

To tuck into my heart

And carry home with me

An aroma sweet and wonderful 

As each delicious meal

                                           -JoMae

                                            2/17/15

piano prayers

piano prayers

I play the folks who come to mind

Their fears their pain their loss

I plead a jolt of joy amid the horror

To give them hope to make it to tomorrow

I ponder on the hate filled men of ISIS

And beg the Spirit to attack their swords with Love

A mystery of mercy to engage their minds

That one by one their hearts be struck with Wisdom

I wander through my thoughts of friends and all

And seek a blessing here a healing there

A word of comfort or of wisdom

A sense of the Divine Embrace hugging their souls

I tune my heart with trust

Sharpen my thanksgiving

Sing a note of praise

And rest in peace

-JoMae

Come To Me

"Come To Me"

Christ 

Living in me

Cradling my soul

Here when I'm needy

Here when I'm whole 

Ahead of me, guiding

Above, firm to protect

Around, a companion

Atoning neglect

                               -JoMae

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  Matthew 11:28-29 

Hammock Prayers

Hammock Prayers

When illness or other trials come,
the prayers of God's people
form an invisible hammock
woven of air yet strong as steel

to gently rock a fearful heart.

A net to catch a worried spirit
and rest it in the loving hand of God.

-JoMae

A reflection of much pondering on prayer and the caring of friends and family during recent illness. All is well now, and we are most thankful.

Blind Spots and New Vision

Blind Spots and New Vision: Virginia Mollenkott’s   
The Divine Feminine

The Divine Feminine: The Biblical Imagery of God as Female 

By Virginia Ramey Mollenkott

Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2014 (reprint of 1984 edition) 
Paperback, 120 pages 

Reviewed by JoMae Spoelhof 

Dr. Virginia Ramey Mollenkott’s book, The Divine Feminine: The Biblical Imagery of God as Female, has recently been reissued, and I am eager to recommend it. It beautifully illuminates the feminine images of God as portrayed in the Bible. First published in 1984, it remains a valuable tool for glimpsing a view of the Godhead that tends to be glossed over and invisible in traditional Christianity. As Mollenkott writes, “For those who accept trinitarianism, it will be striking that all three persons of the divine triad [the Creator God; the eternal Christ; and the Holy Spirit] are depicted in feminine as well as masculine images”(p. 4). 

The author guides the reader through familiar scripture passages, pointing out an underlying presence of God’s feminine face.  For people like me, raised in a deeply embedded patriarchal/hierarchal mindset, Virginia Mollenkott is a godsend.  She addresses the power of such patriarchal teaching, power to keep one from being able to see the feminine in God. She helped me grope through layers of my own blind spots to recognize that our Creator does not recoil from language referring to God’s womb or labor pains or countless other examples of identification as female, as I once believed. Our God loves us as Mother as well as Father. And Mollenkott doesn’t just tell us this, she shows us, carefully referencing each passage that points to this truth. 

Her book discusses numerous instances in the Bible where God is spoken of in feminine terms. She cites many references to God as giving birth, nursing an infant, and carrying out other maternal activities. Referring to Acts 17:28 (where Paul explains to the Athenians that God is not far from anyone for “it is in God that we live and move and exist” as God’s offspring), Mollenkott points out that “although the apostle does not specifically name the womb, at no other time in human experience do we exist within another person” than our time in our mother’s womb (p. 16).  Another motif the author examines is God as midwife, actively involved in delivering new life (chapter 6). And the whole of chapter 7 is devoted to teaching about the Shekinah, a grammatically feminine term referring to God’s glorious presence, as manifest in the tabernacle (and temple later on), and as the pillar of fire by night and pillar of cloud by day, guiding the Israelites out of slavery. 

Along with showing Christ’s affirming and empowering interactions with women, the book is full of both familiar and less familiar images unpacked to reveal fresh meaning, including Lady Wisdom, God as female homemaker, the bakerwoman God, and analogies from nature (mother eagle, mother bear protecting her cubs, mother pelican).  Mother Hen, for example, so familiar to Christians from Jesus’ desire to protect Jerusalem’s children “as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings” (Luke 13:34), is especially underscored. Through the highlighting of several Old Testament passages such as “I take shelter in the shadow of your wings” (Ps 57:1), we are reminded that Jesus’ words would have been very familiar to his Jewish listeners. Ruth and Boaz lived with that familiar image as well, and I was delighted to read of Ruth’s wonderful response to Boaz’s blessing, in which Boaz had praised Ruth for caring for her mother-in-law Naomi. “May the Lord recompense you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge” (Ruth 2:12).   Mollenkott writes, “Later, Ruth takes Boaz up on that blessing, urging him to “spread your wing [Kānāp, the same word used in 2:12] over your maidservant, for you are a redeemer” (p. 94). 

New to me was the prevalence of early church leaders who addressed and referred to both Creator God and Jesus Christ as Mother, embracing rather than avoiding feminine images and metaphors for God.  I’d heard some of this, but the names and quotes documented in this book surprised me, as did how long this practice  went on— beyond the early centuries of Christianity and well into the Middle Ages.  However, while these leaders spoke of God as both mother and father, they still considered female qualities to be inferior to the male. Writes Mollenkott, “But if we can teach ourselves to value the roles traditionally associated with the female on a truly equal level with those associated with the male, the result will be the enrichment of all humanity. Inclusive God-Language is a step in the direction of that enrichment” (p. 13, italics added). She then challenges religious leaders to recognize “the female presence in their grammatical choices” and to utilize “biblical references to God as female.” She sees this as a way for these leaders to “demonstrate the sincerity of their commitment to human justice, peace, and love, and therefore to psychological and social health” (pp. 13-14). 

Virginia Mollenkott later explains how we see what we expect to see in Scripture. 

“All of us approach any written text with

certain expectations and those expectations

govern what we are able to see in what we

are reading. Perhaps it is helpful to think in

terms of an interpretative grid, a grid that

gives clear focus on some things and blocks

   us from seeing others. 

   A patriarchal interpretative grid has simply

made it impossible for most people through

the ages to be able to perceive the many

images of God as female which are the

subject of this study.”   (pp. 64-65) 

She further reminds us that for those whose expectations have been blocked by language teaching the exclusive maleness of God, many layers of misinformation will need to be peeled away. Looking back, I can see how true this has been in my own life. When I first read The Divine Feminine several years ago, it addressed questions I barely knew to ask. It began to open a new understanding and to bring some clarity to my questions about God and gender. But moving beyond deeply instilled patriarchal teachings took a long time.  After living with these new ideas and letting them percolate, while gradually increasing my comfort level with loving God as both Mother and Father, I picked the book up again some years later. By then I was ready to take in more details, better understand my yearnings, and thereby gain the confidence to speak out. Each time I read, its message met me in a new place on my journey; and at each reading, more layers of patriarchal “blindness” fell away so that I could notice truths I hadn’t been ready to absorb before.  It takes a long time for old layers of thinking to fade away and a new reality to feel normal. 

Now, having read it a third time to prepare this review, even more has fallen into place. If you are grappling with lifelong patriarchal teachings about God and Christianity, pick up this gentle book!  It is packed with information that will help. It will enrich your life.  It has truly enriched mine. Through these pages, I see that my precious God and Savior not only is reflected in my father, but is also a God who “looks” like my mother —and me!  Both male and female are created in God’s image, an image that is both masculine and feminine. I’m so glad this book is available again to enlighten the lives of a new generation. 

------------- 
This review, first published by Christian Feminism Today in the Spring of 2014, can be found here. CFT is dedicated to sharing 'Equality and Inclusiveness Through God's Expansive Love'.