A shepherd searching for a lost lamb. A father welcoming home his errant son. These were the kinds of images Christ Jesus used to convey to his followers and others the loving, healing nature of God. For instance, he said of God’s ceaseless care, “Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him” (Matthew 6:8).

I was deeply touched when I read what the Discoverer of Christian Science, using similar imagery, shared with some of her students about her concept of God. According to one account, Mary Baker Eddy said, “It is like the father protecting and caring for his child; it is like the mother taking the little one in her arms and feeding it with the milk of the Word; it is like the tender shepherd caring for his flock, going out into the marshes after the lost lamb, calling, calling—listening for its little plaintive voice, taking it in His arms, carrying it home, and doing it over and over again” (We Knew Mary Baker Eddy, Expanded Edition, Vol. 2, p. 337).

Yes, “over and over again.” The tenderness of the shepherd and the cry of the lost lamb paint a powerful mental picture of an all-loving Father-Mother God who, the Bible tells us, is Love itself. But what particularly struck me was that the shepherd does this continually: Infinite divine Love—infinitely tender, infinitely patient—continually expresses its lovingkindness, no matter what the circumstances may be. Love, God, is there supporting, sustaining, and meeting the needs of every one of His beloved children forever.