Editorial September 25, 1995 Issue

Our heavenly Mother's love—and ours

Barbara M. Vining

Deep within our hearts—even if we can't put it into words, even if it has seemed far from prevalent in our lives up to this point—every one of us can know what real love is, and how it ought to be expressed.

To be loved is to be valued as an individual, and tenderly cared for. Therefore, love should be unconditional, constant, consistent, and unselfish. It ought to make us feel capable and confident, and give us a feeling of freedom and independence. Love ought to be fair and merciful—standing by us at all times, even weathering the storms of our human stumblings. And love should comfort us; it should embrace us in its warmth and melt away all our fears.

Certainly, we intuitively know, a mother's love should be and do all of the above. And why do we know this? Because we all have such a mother—God, our heavenly Father and Mother—who is Love, which can never fail to be and do all of the above. We are God's offspring, the valued and cherished spiritual reflection of divine Love. The Biblical prophet Jeremiah caught a glimpse of this; he recorded, "The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (31:3). The Bible also contains this promise from God: "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem" (Isa. 66:13). "Father-Mother," says Mary Baker Eddy, "is the name for Deity, which indicates His tender relationship to His spiritual creation" (Science and Health, p. 332).