{"id":5507,"date":"2024-05-09T03:05:12","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T11:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/?p=5507"},"modified":"2024-04-27T17:29:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-28T01:29:36","slug":"what-if-jesus-and-lao-tzu-celebrated-mothers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/breathingspace\/2024\/05\/what-if-jesus-and-lao-tzu-celebrated-mothers-day\/","title":{"rendered":"What if Jesus and Lao Tzu Celebrated Mother\u2019s Day?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
What if Jesus and Lao Tzu celebrated Mother\u2019s Day? They would agree that universal and cosmic wisdom is best represented by motherly love.<\/strong><\/p>\n
<\/a>
Image generated by the author at openart.ai<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Jesus, the embodiment of wisdom and incarnation of the Tao, said, \u201cHow often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings<\/a><\/span>.\u201d<\/strong> He utilized mother imagery to depict God\u2019s gathering and protecting love. Bending traditional gender roles, the apostle Paul echoed Jesus\u2019s feminine love, saying, \u201cWe were gentle among you, like a nurse tenderly caring for her own children.<\/a><\/span>\u201d Taoist, Jewish, and Christian literature agree in their recognition of the Divine Feminine. It turns out that this motherly love is one of the best ways to personify Wisdom. Here are two different translations of verse six of the Tao Te Ching:<\/p>\n
<\/h2>\nTao Te Ching, Verse 6<\/h2>\n "
The Tao is called the Great Mother:******
\nempty yet inexhaustible,
\nit gives birth to infinite worlds.<\/p>\n
**
It is always present within you.
******\nYou can use it any way you want.<\/p>\n
(Stephen Mitchell Version<\/a><\/span>)<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Spirit is Mother.<\/p>\n
Emptiness which gives birth<\/p>\n
to the universe.<\/p>\n
The Spirit is within,<\/p>\n
usable and inexhaustible.<\/p>\n
(Marshall Davis Version<\/a><\/span>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wisdom Personified as Mother<\/h2>\n
Both the Tao Te Ching and the Hebrew Bible portray wisdom as a feminine energy.<\/strong> In The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literature: Selections Annotated and Explained<\/span>,<\/a><\/em> (pages\u00a0 xviii, xxi, xxii, xxiii), Rabbi Rami Shapiro writes about Wisdom personified as Mother:<\/p>\n
"
It is no small thing to note that Wisdom is feminine. The original language of the texts, both Hebrew and Greek, make this very clear: Hebrew Chochma and Greek Sophia are both feminine nouns. The authors of the Wisdom books [such as Proverbs, Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, and more] took this gender specificity seriously and envisioned Wisdom as Mother, God\u2019s consort and bride, the Divine Feminine through which the masculine God fashioned all creation\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n
Chochma was not simply the first of God\u2019s creations; She was the means through which all the others came forth. This is what it means to be the master builder. Chochma is both created and creative. She is the ordering principle of creation: \u201cShe embraces one end of the earth to the other, and She orders all things well\u201d (Wisdom of Solomon 8:1). To know Her is to know the Way of all things\u2026and to act in accord with it is what it means to be wise\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n
This is how Mother Wisdom works. She doesn\u2019t change anything; illumines everything. She is right seeing. Chochma \u201cpervades and penetrates\u201d all things (Wisdom of Solomon 7:24). She is the ordering principle of the universe. What you see when you see Her is analogous to seeing the grain in wood, the current of wind and oceans, and the laws of nature, both the macrocosmic and the microcosmic\u2026She is the Way things are\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n
She is the Way God is manifest in the world. To know Her is to know God as well.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wisdom as the Divine Feminine<\/h2>\n
The eighth chapter of Proverbs<\/span><\/a> depicts this primordial feminine Wisdom calling to all people. <\/strong>To everyone who passes, she offers herself as a refuge. Wisdom is trustworthy, for she is older than any of God\u2019s works, and indeed, participated in creation itself.<\/p>\n
"
Does not wisdom call<\/p>\n
and understanding raise her voice?<\/p>\n
On the heights, beside the way,<\/p>\n
at the crossroads she takes her stand;<\/p>\n
beside the gates in front of the town,<\/p>\n
at the entrance of the portals she cries out:<\/p>\n
\u201cTo you, O people, I call,<\/p>\n
and my cry is to all who live\u2026<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Lord created me at the beginning of his work,<\/p>\n
the first of his acts of long ago.<\/p>\n
Ages ago I was set up,<\/p>\n
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.<\/p>\n
When there were no depths I was brought forth,<\/p>\n
when there were no springs abounding with water.<\/p>\n
Before the mountains had been shaped,<\/p>\n
before the hills, I was brought forth,<\/p>\n
when he had not yet made earth and fields<\/p>\n
or the world\u2019s first bits of soil.<\/p>\n
When he established the heavens, I was there;<\/p>\n
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,<\/p>\n
when he made firm the skies above,<\/p>\n
when he established the fountains of the deep,<\/p>\n
when he assigned to the sea its limit,<\/p>\n
so that the waters might not transgress his command,<\/p>\n
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,<\/p>\n
then I was beside him, like a master worker,<\/p>\n
and I was daily his delight,<\/p>\n
playing before him always,<\/p>\n
playing in his inhabited world<\/p>\n
and delighting in the human race.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Synonymous with the Holy Spirit<\/h2>\n*************
**
These verses describe the Yin-energy of wisdom. In the Hebrew text, God creates Wisdom, yet Wisdom also co-creates with God. Mystical traditions elevate Chochma\/Sophia to a feminine attribute of God, synonymous with the Holy Spirit.<\/strong> Wisdom is more than a concept, more than the accumulation of human intellect. Wisdom is a divine principle, akin to the Tao.<\/p>\n
**
*************\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n
Wisdom\u2019s Yin-Energy<\/h2>\n***************
**
Wisdom is Yin-energy because it is subtle by nature.<\/strong> It does not demand obedience\u2014it simply beckons and waits. Wisdom is the valley. By her sloping landscape, she invites the river to flow through her. And water does so, because it seeks the lowest, most humble place. Flowing rivers carve canyons\u2014and it is in these valleys that life, safety, and nourishment abound.<\/p>\n
**
You can see Wisdom\u2019s Yin-energy as she stands by the portal and the gate.<\/strong> This association with openings and receptivity is not accidental. Wisdom is the Great Mother\u2014 \u201cempty yet inexhaustible.\u201d It is because of her emptiness that she can develop life in her womb. Like a cup, a well, and a bellows whose virtue lies in emptiness, the valley, gate, and portal demonstrate the virtue of their openness.<\/p>\n
**
***************\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Playful Mother<\/h2>\n***************
**
One beautiful aspect of Chochma\/Sophia is her playfulness.<\/strong> She says, \u201cI was daily [God\u2019s] delight, playing before him always, playing in his inhabited world and delighting in the human race.\u201d Taoist literature shares this playful attitude. Lest one believe that Taoist detachment is too austere, Lao Tzu\u2019s and Chuang Tzu\u2019s writings offer a sense of spriteliness as well. As a mother delights in and plays with her children, so is the Tao with the children of the universe.<\/p>\n
**
Seen as the playful mother, we can understand the enigmatic final phrase of verse six of the Tao Te Ching.<\/strong> Mitchell translates it, \u201cYou can use it any way you want.\u201d Davis renders it, \u201cusable and inexhaustible.\u201d Feminists might rightly take issue with the idea of using<\/em> the Great Mother Tao. Humans have done unfathomable damage by using Mother Earth to their own advantage, exploiting her as a commodity. Yet, if we understand \u201cusing\u201d our Mother in the context of a playful relationship where Mother is never not in charge, we can see this differently. Imagine children using their mother as a jungle gym\u2014this is using her, but not in an exploitative way.<\/p>\n
**
***************\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lighthearted Co-Creation<\/h2>\n***************
**
Daily, mothers offer their children comfort, advice, and support.<\/strong> This is \u201cusing the mother,\u201d without taking advantage. Even as Chochma\/Sophia delights in her children, the Tao is pleased to provide, care, nurture, and even play with those who take refuge. Her presence is always within you. And within that relationship of trust, there are no limits to lighthearted co-creation with the Spirit of Wisdom.<\/p>\n
**
***************\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did Jesus and Lao Tzu Celebrate Mother\u2019s Day?<\/h2>\n*****************
**
Did Jesus and Lao Tzu celebrate Mother\u2019s Day?<\/strong> Of course not\u2014but if they did, they would agree that wisdom and Yin energy display themselves best in images of maternal love. This Mother\u2019s Day, as you express gratitude toward the mothers in your life, take a moment to recognize the feminine wisdom of Chochma\/Sophia\/Tao.<\/p>\n
**
*****************\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something to Ponder\u2026<\/em><\/h2>\n*******************
**
Take a moment to sit comfortably and close your eyes. Breathing deeply, imagine yourself in a comfortable warm darkness. It\u2019s the cozy darkness of blankets when you were a child, snuggling in bed with your mom. Or it\u2019s the wet warm darkness of the womb before you were born, that protected place where you could hear your mother\u2019s voice singing her love into you. The pregnant darkness of pre-creation when the Divine Feminine stirred the elements with her gentle breath. As you breathe, inhale that Wisdom. Exhale any resistance you might feel to her embrace. Continue to sit and breathe, surrounded by divine insight and love. Thank this Great Mother for your existence, and simply rest in her presence.<\/em><\/p>\n
**
*******************\u00a0<\/p>\n
For related reading, check out my other articles:<\/h3>\n\nHow Are Jesus & Lao Tzu Like Peanut Butter Cups?<\/a><\/span><\/li>\nJesus & Lao Tzu\u2019s Judgement-Free Zone<\/a><\/span><\/li>\nJesus And Lao Tzu: Does God Take Sides?<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"*********************
**
*********************What if Jesus and Lao Tzu celebrated Mother\u2019s Day? They would agree that universal and cosmic wisdom is best represented by motherly love. Jesus, the embodiment of wisdom and incarnation of the Tao, said, \u201cHow often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.\u201d He utilized […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4628,"featured_media":5513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1302,3731],"tags":[3815,599,3683,3812,3818,2957],"class_list":["post-5507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holidays-and-special-days","category-taoism","tag-chochma","tag-divine-feminine","tag-jesus-and-lao-tzu","tag-mothers-day","tag-sophia","tag-taoism"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat if Jesus and Lao Tzu Celebrated Mother\u2019s Day?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What if Jesus and Lao Tzu celebrated Mother\u2019s Day? 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