What\u2019s needed? Mother God. Parent God. A metaphor from our own experience to reflect what we value. Here\u2019s the ELCA pitch:<\/p>\n
\u201cCan we call God \u2018Mother\u2019? In our world of domestic and sexual abuse\u2026the word father <\/em>can have deeply negative meanings for many people, meanings that keep them from experiencing<\/strong> the deeply interpersonal intimacy<\/strong> and love that moved Jesus to call God \u2018Father\u2019 \u2026. If calling God \u2018Mother\u2019<\/strong> opens a wounded soul to the experience of divine love, then why not? [1]<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cHoly God, Father and Mother<\/strong>, thank you for the steadfastness of your love this day and every day. Amen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The Lutheran<\/em> also calls for more names for God. Elaine Ramshaw promotes speaking of God \u201cin metaphors we take from our own lives\u201d (March 2010, 34-35).<\/p>\n
If everyone is saved anyway, then make up names for god which reflect what you value. Why not? It\u2019s just a game with nothing at stake.<\/p>\n
But the gospel is that salvation is certain only in that first century Jew, who was hanged as a felon (no flattering image here), who called God his Father, and who has invited us to pray in his name to God as our Father.<\/p>\n
For resources on this issue see Jenson<\/a>, Burgess<\/a>, and Forde<\/a>, and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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