Pastor’s Page

“But truly God has listened; he has heard to the words of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me.”

Psalm 66:19-20

Recently, I was reading an article which included this quote by Catherine M. Wallace: “Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what. If you don’t listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won’t tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.”

I couldn’t help but think about prayer when I considered this statement. For some people, prayer is only an outlet considered when everything else has failed. Others only think of God in the good times, offering thanks but never saying sorry. As much as some might struggle with the idea about God answering prayers about parking spots while the world faces war and natural disasters, we are equipped in the Holy Spirit to approach God with all of our prayers – from what might seem trivial, to the issues which seem insurmountably big.

St Julian of Norwich describes Christ as our ‘true mother’. This gender-bending language reflects how, even though Jesus had a male body, the expansive nature of God transcends our notions of gender. Likewise, nourishing and nurturing others transcends motherhood – fathers also exhibit tender care towards their children, and it is not only parents who demonstrate love and care towards those around them. The love of God bears similarities to that of a parent as God loves us unconditionally, before we are capable of recognising or responding to that love for ourselves.

At least for another couple of weeks before Pentecost Sunday, our church community is still in the season of Easter. At Easter we can grapple with the nature of God, in relation to Jesus’ death on the cross. Some parents have articulated their discomfort with the idea that God sent Jesus to die, concluding that a loving parent would surely seek to protect their child from violence, rather than willingly subject their child to that violence. Within the Trinity, God’s fatherhood differs from earthly parenthood, in that the oneness of God prevents God the father from subjecting Jesus to anything he does not also consent to.

However, each of us picture God, our faith in Christ provides us with hope, not just of God’s presence, but of God’s love. We can have the confidence to approach God in prayer, knowing we are listened to and cared for.

Blessings, Pastor Abbey Sim