House of God

by Mary Martin WiensMy wife Mary gives a Mother's Day Blessing every year at our church. Last year, she gave this one, and it was so breathtaking that I asked if she'd share it here, on the week leading up to Mother's Day. She graciously agreed. Enjoy.Whether we are women or men, whether we mother children or mother in other ways, Mother’s Day is one of those days that can highlight our needs. You may come to this day with the need to remember. To forget. To be remembered. To be honored. To be comforted. To be forgiven. To be given hope. To be given an “A.” I am more convinced than ever that we are to take our needs and run to our Home. Our Home is within the One who made us and loves us and in that place we are tenderly, intimately cared for like the best of parents would care for a child, but oh so much better. So, I want you to imagine with me that in the MIDST a long journey (perhaps the long journey of parenting, of infertility, of grieving, whatever the long journey of your life is right now) you suddenly arrive at the place where the heart of God dwells. And God, like a Mother—but the kind of mother God would be—meets you at the door with a look of unabashed welcome and invites you in. What might that be like? When you come to the house of GodWith the mud of trying dripping from your sleevesCovered in crueltiesYour own and othersObscured by false agreementsShe cleans your clothes, shakes them out and hangs them up to dryAnd you she washes, washes, washesLike water lapping on rock sayingLet me get that off of you andThere you are andNow do you remember?So let us run to the house of God When you come wounded to house of GodShe builds a circle around youShe stands guard and houses your painShe holds your weeping head in her lap andWhispers, I knowGently, methodically she tends each hurt sayingAll is wellYou will be wellAt all times I work to make all things wellSo let us run to the house of God When you come undone in the house of GodShe gathers you upShe remembers who you areShe breathes vitality back into you sayingHere. Here is your bodyHere again are your hands, are your feet, is your mouthHere is your mindHere is your spiritHere I amHere you areSo let us run to the house of God When you are hungry in the house of GodShe sets out to nourish you entirelyShe satisfies and delights your whole beingShe heartens you with substance sayingTake your timeListen to meI have all you needIt is free. Free. Free.So let us run to the house of God When you are naked in the house of GodWhen you stand exposed by the limits of being humanWhat you can’t make happenWhat you can’t stop from happeningWhat you can’t knowShe covers youShe sees you andShe clothes you sayingHere is safetyHere is graceI know how you are madeI call you good. Good. Good.So let us run to the house of God And, When the time is right in the house of GodShe does a danceShe opens wide the doorsShe presents you to the world sayingHere is my Beloved with whom I am pleasedSo pleasedSo very pleased