Words matter. The choices we make about the language we use has the power to include and widen or narrow and exclude. According to researcher Brené Brown, “[Language is] the raw material of the story, it changes how we feel about ourselves and others, and it’s a portal to connection.”
This includes God language. The language of our liturgy is either heavily masculine or, in these times, non-gendered. For example, in Eucharistic Prayer A, the celebrant says “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,” or “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.”
But I wonder what it would be like for you if we changed the language to “It is right, and a good and joyful thing, always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Mother Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”?
I can tell you that for me, a woman and a mother of three daughters, it makes space for us in the story. It gives us a place of equal value and a connection point to the divine. As theologian Marcus Borg writes, “How can women be in the image of God if God cannot be imaged in female form?” Without using feminine language to describe God, it’s harder to see that I was made in God’s image.
And for me these are not at odds with one another, calling God Father or Mother. Instead, using them both enriches and expands our understanding of the divine. But in order to do that, we must be using feminine language for God too.
As Episcopalians, the phrase lex orandi, lex credendi is at the foundation of our identity. Lex orandi, lex credendi means “law of praying, law of believing” or, in a more idiomatic translation, “as one prays, so one believes.”
Words matter, language matters, prayers matter. As we look to be a place where all God’s people can see themselves in the image of God, we need to look at expanding our prayers to include feminine language to describe God.
For one Sunday, Mother’s Day, at the 10 am Rite Two service, we are going to try this out. We are going to replace the masculine God language with feminine God language.
For some of this, it will be difficult, and for some of us it will be liberating. There is no wrong reaction. I invite you to join us on Mother’s Day and think about how the language makes you feel about yourself and others.