Harnessing Fierce of Mother Love

"Silence is Surrender" says the sign of the protester wearing the cautionary Handmaid's Tale robe.

The ingredients of my understanding of motherhood come from a mix of ancient Catholicism, modern feminism, and lived experience as an American mom. There can hardly be a more discordant combination of ideas than this. In mid-life, now that my children are raised, I look back on what motherhood taught me, and I tell you, it’s not just how to host kids’ birthday parties.

There is a fierceness to motherhood that is Divine. The extraordinary energy it took to protect and feed my children is hard to fathom now that they are launched. I have to admit, that strength could only come from my soul. Mother Love, like Grace, comes from the Higher Power to ignite our spiritual selves.

The Hebrew Bible teaches us about the shadow and light of the Divine Mother, ruach, or Holy Spirit. In addition to milk and honey, we have imagery of forceful protectiveness. “I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, and will tear open the covering of their heart... (Hosea 13:8).” This is metaphorical language to describe the burst of energy a person feels to protect the vulnerable from predators.

This energy is transferable! One does not have to be a mother, or even a woman, to experience Mother Love. Anyone who has a taste for justice will feel this energy when they witness harm being done to a child or vulnerable adult. Anyone who is incensed by images of children being traumatized or adults being assaulted know the sternness of the Mothering Spirit.

I look at our nation at this moment and wonder, “Where is the fierceness of Mother Love?”

Where are justice and accountability for the cynical leaders who accept the mistreatment of vulnerable people as part of their political game?

Where is Mama Bear as children are being kidnapped from their parent’s cars and locked in detention centers? Where is the righteous, shielding energy of the Divine Mother for the women who were trafficked and exploited by Epstein and his friends?

How many Americans have lost their spiritual passion to rise up against injustice? How far has the sickness of indifference and disconnection spread among us?

The flame of Mothering Love can be reclaimed. Each American with a moral center is entitled to feel angry on behalf of those being harmed by the administration and its power brokers. To be in community means to protect all vulnerable people like a Mother.

The people of Minnesota show us how: speak Truth, seek Justice, and Protect the vulnerable. Document everything. Protest. Vote. Take the call to Leadership. Collectively organize. Resist.

Yes, we can and yes, we must.