blockprint by mary allison, text from pc(usa)'s "brief statement of faith."

during one of my recent stream-of-consciousness drifts into theology and mom-tology (that’s ontology for moms), something beautiful occurred to me.

i was reflecting on just how much i have changed over time. the essence of me is the same, of course, but when the kids hit the scene, andy and i became full-time adapters to the whims, patterns, needs, and developmental requirements of the little people in our lives. this awareness makes the metaphor of god-as-parent all the more fascinating. does god, as the process theologians claim, change over time according to the movements of the universe?

i was interested in this concept in college and divinity school but now that i am a parent, i find myself embracing process theology for the blessing it can offer mothers. what good is the metaphor of an all-powerful, hands-off sort of god to a mother whose power in society is questionable and who is intimately involved in the details of her children’s lives? i like thinking about a god who would postpone her sleep to help a child out of the fog of a night terror. when i think of the possibility that god has shaped her plans around her children, i remember that what i am doing is valuable.

i am not saying that god has surrendered the entire universe to human control. nor am i saying that we should surrender our lives to the irrational notions of a two-year-old.

 i’m just saying that it’s possible that we were created in the image of a makeshifting god.