Monday 26 May 2008

Background

Here in Isaiah we are immersed in the rich imagery of God'srelationship with people whose lives have been shattered by war andexile. Jerusalem had been overrun and many of its inhabitants takencaptive and sent away into exile in Babylon. This passage exploreswhat God can offer to those who are dejected, displaced andstateless, and living far from home in a foreign land.

It does not take much imagination to sense the failure, guilt andshame which hangs heavy in the air. Amongst these folk hope is arare commodity. It is into this emptiness that God speaks. Morethan that, it is out of this emptiness that God's compassionate andcreative love births new life and hope.

In order to convey the extraordinary passion and intimacy of God'sloving intent the Hebrew Scriptures repeatedly draw deep upon awellspring of feminine imagery. Nowhere is this more strikinglyapparent than in Isaiah. Here God is compared to a nursing mother.It is God who births the universe and God who cherishes andnurtures the life of the beloved brought into being.

The feminist theologian Elizabeth A Johnson puts this so well whenshe says "The religious experience of divine mercy is made luminousin maternal metaphors". The picture is of God "freely andabundantly giving life". It is of divine love which is profoundlyin touch and compassionately engaged with human suffering. Noabsent, unfeeling God here then. For Isaiah quite the opposite istrue.

God cares so much and so faithfully that only an image of God asthe nursing mother, who goes to the amazing lengths of inscribingthe name of the beloved on the palm of her hands will do. And muchlater it is the nail-pierced palms of Jesus which demonstrate boththe human face and cost to God of such divine compassion.

To Ponder

Who are the forgotten ones where you live andwork?

What creative insights does feminine imagery ofGod offer to you?

What gets in the way of you knowing that Godloves you this much? What might you do to try and overcomethis?