Our Lady of Grace and Mercy

My grandmother recently lent me the copy of "The Secret Life of Bees" that I bought her for Christmas, and I find myself reading again about the mercy and the love and the hope provided by Mary, mother of Christ. While neither the characters of this book nor Anne Lamott are Catholic, they seem--if possible--to find more comfort in the arms of this woman than is normally talked about in the arms of Jesus. Perhaps because she was declared a saint, ready to petition God for the lowly, she seems more accessible than the son of God. Perhaps her complete humanity makes it seem that she in turn understands our failings, our joys, and our suffering, even more so than Christ.

Or perhaps it is because she is a woman and a mother. I know several people who refer to God as a "she," and while I used to think that this was a feminist statement of sorts, I now believe that perhaps these people want to think of a warm and loving God who will enfold them in peace and rock them softly into a state of grace. I think that is why I like to equate God with Mother Nature, because a mother who tends and blesses and brings beauty into the whole world is such a joyful idea.

And thinking about God as a mother is a comfort, but surely God fulfills the role of a father as well; and as it is a stretch to imagine God in any human form, I can see why these women gravitate toward Mary, the mother of thousands. She is tangible in a way that a heavenly being is not. She is the female embodiment of spiritual love. Her hands did good work, her heart experienced great suffering, and her arms are ready for the weary to fall into until they are strong enough to get up and walk again.