True Mother-Love

BERTHA E. RICE

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE teaches the motherhood as well as the fatherhood of God. The first line of the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father which art in heaven," is spiritually interpreted by Mrs. Eddy in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 16) in these words: "Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious."

A student of Christian Science who had suffered a great deal from a sense of loneliness often read these words without realizing their meaning; but one evening she read an article in the Christian Science Sentinel which told about the motherhood of God. Then she caught a glimpse of this truth, and in that instant she was healed of loneliness.

As a child feels at home where his mother is, so wherever we are we may feel at home in the presence of God, divine Love. Paul says, "In him we live, and move, and have our being." Protection, gentleness, service, sacrifice, are qualities of mother-love, as are also purity and constancy. Mrs. Eddy says (Science and Health, p. 60), "A mother's affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal."

A human mother may fail; but divine Love never fails. The prophet asks, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Wherever we may go, we cannot get away from God, divine Love. Mrs. Eddy says (ibid., p. 304), "Divine Love cannot be deprived of its manifestation or object."

A child may cry out in terror because of a bad dream, not knowing that his mother is with him all the time until awakened by her gentle hand and loving voice. So, though in the mortal dream we may feel lonely or afraid, the real self, the real child of God, has never been separated for an instant from the loving Father-Mother. We need only to listen to the voice of Love, and awake to find ourselves enfolded, surrounded, and supported by divine Love. "The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms," declared Moses. When we turn to God, infinite Love, we find that the "everlasting arms" are more tender than the arms of the most loving mother in the world. How wonderful it is to know that man, God's idea, is at all times so beloved.

The tender, protecting mother-love was marvelously expressed by Jesus, who took the little children in his arms and blessed them, and who, in speaking of Jerusalem, said, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" It is our duty, our privilege, to follow in the footsteps of the Master and to reflect in some measure this wonderful love. A kind deed, a tender word, a smile, may help someone on his way; and a loving thought, even though not outwardly expressed, is a wonderful power for good.

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