It is hard to be faithful to any church when so few seriously address the conflicting dilemmas only a Mother can experience.
Many Moms today remain guided by ancient tales and an ambiguous hierarchy. Others seek out the loopholes in religious texts for the sake of survival in an uncertain world.
The breakaway by modern Moms from rigid religious practices have tossed matters of sex, home, children, men, personal fulfillment into open society.
Once constrained by absolute faith in religious dogma, Moms are taking the heat for heaping their inner conflicts onto an unprepared world.
We are all still figuring this out.
But solutions to the issues of the day are not found in fundamental belief systems that have failed Mothers generation after generation.
They are not found in mindless devotion to the likes of popes and priests who value an isolated existence, reading books about a life they cannot live and about a kind of love they will never know.
The practice of showing respect to the few religious Mother figures for their ’suffering’ is at odds with the stirring of admiration for those with Mama Bear tendencies.
There are enough situations in our world today to be reminded of suffering and too few celebrating the strength born of Motherhood.
If I am supposed to believe what religions, priests and clergy say about the order of life, why have I been given the opportunity to believe in something so much more concrete and powerful?
Like my own experience as a Mom.
Moms needing support, hope and opportunity to carry them through life’s ordeals are fortunate to find a welcoming place in church communities. These churches do commendable and altruistic work which would only improve if Mothers could see themselves at a higher place in the religious order.
For me to act as if a priest, pastor or nun is somehow closer to god than I am, is to deminish the value of my own experiences.
Imagine what would happen if we looked further within ourselves as true believers, accepting the fact that Moms are the creators of life on the earth as ordained by god.
on 
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Beth
/ January 6, 2011I remember when I was in “recovery”, if you will, from fundamentalism. A really good friend of mine was the local priest. He was rather progressive (many Catholics are!) (http://www.ministryofthearts.org/index.html) and really helped me to understand and appreciate the Bible as using metaphor as a teaching tool–rather than applying literalism. Anyways, I digress…he told me that people always think that clergy is so holy, when actually it is Mothers who truly have the holy calling. A Mother has to be sacrificial 24/7 and not just when the job description dictates.
Another thing he said once…well, I told him that I had read a study that said that young people going into holy Calling (priesthood, nuns,) was rapidly declining and he said Good. Maybe then laity will do what they are supposed to do–be active PARTICIPANTS in worship rather than bystanders. Man, I miss that priest. He was a good friend as well as being a very intellectually stimulating person!
Heather
/ January 6, 2011He sounds like a very wise man. I am glad to know that these priests exist and are increasing in numbers and in various churches. But they remain so few.
And I grew up in a Catholic town. There is alot of wisdom in the bible, no doubt about it. But there is wisdom in writings of so many people but those writings are not used to control others the same way.
I think the “progressive” aspect has presented itself because many people want to live as they truly are or want to make mistakes and (hopefully) learn from them without feeling like they are going to hell. I guess even religions adapt or else they’ll become obsolete.
victorias_view
/ November 17, 2010This is another great post with wonderful insight! It is true as mothers we are the creators of the life on earth and are all in our own way have our own personal connection with God.
Heather
/ November 17, 2010Thanks for your response. I really appreciate the perspective you have on this on your blog. If women were raised to appreciate this more, I think the world would look very different.