ON HEADWEAR AND 'MOTHER EARTH'
“...a woman clothed with the sun…” (Rev. 12:1)
Looking ahead to Sunday, May 14, we have big decisions to make–what to choose for headwear on Mother’s Day! For me, I am not sure whether to wear my big straw gardening hat, or my snappy black-felt fedora. Not sure how either will look with a worship stole!
In the calendar of the Christian Church (in ‘the west’), this Sunday is the 6th Sunday of Eastertide, important not only because Mark Perschnick–a 5th generation descendent of a Methodist circuit rider–is preaching, but also as Mother’s Day. It’s interesting that in the U.S., Mother’s Day began at the initiative of Anna Jarvis, who organized the first Mother's Day worship service at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908 (three years after her social activist mother–Anna Reeves Jarvis–died). Hats off to our Methodist ancestors who cared not only for church, but nurturing civil society too!
Well, this Sunday we are adding another layer of meaning due to our ecological theme, “Life Breaks Out”. As we celebrate mothering in more gender-expansive ways, we can also take a moment and reflect on how we often anthropomorphize our planet as “Mother Earth.” Not that this is a new thing. Throughout human “herstory” many cultures and peoples imagined Earth or Nature as a great living being, a divine being, a goddess or archetype, associated with birth, nurture, and protection, and in some cases, also with war and death. “She Who Is” should not be romanticized nor taken lightly!
In some cultures, She has been understood as the primary divine source, but in other cultures She has existed with a divine partner–a King or Lord or Consort. Kind of like a King and Queen! In fact, in the Hebrew Bible, one of the main concerns of the prophets was that some of the Israelites were making “cakes for the Queen of Heaven” (Jeremiah 7:18, 44:18-25) and honoring Her life-giving powers. Yet maternal images associated with divinity continue to show up–we can think of Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe, or my favorite–from the book of Revelation–”a woman clothed with the sun.”
So if we unpack our words, what do we mean when we speak of Mother Earth? As an ecofeminist theologian, I think it crucial to reflect on our language. For example, the United Methodist Creation Justice Movement’s website* recently invited us for the month of May: ”Aw, Spring…cleaning! Time to clear out old habits and plant some new ones! For the sake of Father God, Mother Earth, and all children now and to come, here are some creation justice habits worth cultivating.” When I first read this, I thought, well maybe exploring some gender-expansive language for God and Earth and people would be a new habit worth cultivating!
Guess we United Methodists still have lots of work to do. Like our Methodist ancestors, we live our lives for the sake of future generations, seeking to bear forth–with grace and humility–wider and deeper ways of compassion, justice and wellbeing, not only for our families, but for life in the great world house.
So what will you choose to wear this Sunday?
Pastor Nancy
*https://umcreationjustice.org/may-2023-tips-time-for-spring-cleaning/
PHOTO CREDIT Party on North Arapho Peak, Colorado, 1910-1920; Used by permission CC BY-NC-ND license, Douglas County Librairies Archives and Local History
