To share in the burden of hope
May we be held in the tender arms of mercy
Welcome to the Mothering Spirit newsletter! Each Saturday morning, you’ll receive a round-up of the week’s posts—perfect for your weekend reading.
This week on Mothering Spirit
Stina Kielsmeier-Cook shares her experience of reaching Micah as a mother while the world burns: “Like the mother crying out in Micah 4, we are in this holy labor together. Maybe God gives us each other in times like these, not to whisper flat platitudes that provide no comfort, but to share in the burden of hope.”
Rakhi McCormick prays for flowing waters to quench the parched land: “May the smallest spark of light shatter the suffocating darkness.”
In Friday’s resource round-up, we asked readers: How has parenting lit a fire in you to work for justice?
Readers respond
Want to share your story in a future Mothering Spirit newsletter? Send your response to this week’s question to newsletter@motheringspirit.com for possible inclusion in a future newsletter (400 words max).
Join us on retreat
Mothering Spirit is offering its first virtual retreat on Nov. 4-6. Sing A New Song: A Birth Story Retreat invites you to pray through your birth story in the light of faith.
Through live sessions on Zoom, optional small groups, and the companion e-book full of Scripture, prayers, and resources to help you reflect on your experiences of birth, you’ll get the chance to bring these sacred stories to God.
Learn more here & check out our FAQs. Sliding scale fees & scholarships are available.
A final word for reflection
“Hebrew has two main words that are translated into ‘mercy’ or its synonyms in English. The first is rachamim or racham (related from the root word rechem meaning womb), translated as ‘merciful’ in Ps 103:8. Racham conveys the sense of mercy as the tender, compassionate love that springs from the deep connection rooted in a natural bond like pregnancy or childbirth. This intimate maternal image suggests that mercy is a place—indeed, that we exist within the nurturing, protective womb of God’s mercy.”
From Mercy: God’s Nature, Our Challenge by Laura Kelly Fanucci
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