God’s tender fathering

A few years ago, I saw two juvenile Purple Martins fledge from the Martin house at the end of our boat dock. One of them took off in the morning, with one parent flying alongside until it flew confidently on its own. The other fledgling stayed on its perch for several more hours before it was ready to fly. The second parent waited with it, then took off with it, through a driving rain.

This scene made me think of God’s tender parenting. Christ Jesus clearly understood God to be his—and our—Father. I have always loved that idea because it indicates God’s tenderness, which He expresses to man—to each one of us—His spiritual offspring. 

Christian Science teaches that God, the source of all creation, is infinite, ever-present Mind, and that man is His idea or expression. And the Bible says, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God” (Isaiah 43:12). To me, this means we bear witness to God by expressing the qualities of His being, such as intelligence, grace, and strength. We innately derive these qualities directly from our divine Parent, God. And God and His expression, man, can’t be split apart, with man left to drift off on his own.