Many Interpretations, But All are the Same Mother
Opening Hymn
Click on the title to hear the music and read the lyrics
Opening Prayer
Our Father and Mother who are in heaven
and around us and within us
Thank you for creating us and sustaining us
and for sending your only begotten son, Yeshua,
the first-born of many brethren
to guide us through this Creation in the Way
that leads us to You.
As we gathered together this Sabbath to honor You,
We ask Your blessing
Guide our hearts and minds
and allow us to leave this place with a closer understanding of You.
Scripture Reading
7:26 For Sophia is a reflection of eternal light
a spotless mirror of the working God,
and an image of his goodness.
27 Although she is but one, she can do all things
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
and makes them friends of God and prophets,
28 for God loves nothing so much as the person who lives with wisdom (Sophia)
29 She is more beautiful than the sun
and excels every constellation of the stars
compared with the light she is found to be superior
30 for it is succeeded by the night
but against wisdom, evil does not prevail
8:1 She reaches mightily from one end of the earth to the other
and she orders all things well. Wisdom of Solomon 7:26-8:1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. 3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1: 1-14
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept her, because it neither sees her nor knows her. But you know her, for she lives with you and will be in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ...
25"All this I have spoken while still with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
John 14
Message
In the last Sabbath message, we reviewed why Essene Christians view the Holy Spirit as feminine. We related that Father and Mother God created families on earth as a visual model for us of the Godhead - the family of God. The Godhead consists of Father and Mother God who are the Masculine and Feminine elements of the divine. Yeshua is the only begotten son of the Godhead. He is the child in the heavenly family of God. The exciting part is that the scriptures say he is the firstborn of many brethren. That means there are other children in this family. We are also created in the image and likeness of God. We are also Father and Mother's children. We are the little brothers and sisters of Yeshua. We are part of the family.
In the most recent era of history, however, our Mother has been hidden from us. Religious authorities have down-played Her and tried to obscure Her importance in our life. They turned Her into a neutral sexless force or a part of the Father. In the process, we became motherless children. Don't misunderstand. She was there, nurturing us all along. But we were hindered from having a close relationship with Her. She was veiled and insulated in layers of disguising language. So we never got to see Her lovely face or feel the warmth of Her motherly breasts and soft gentle embrace.
This neutering of our Mother is a modern and relatively recent phenomenon. All ancient cultures had a better understanding of the Divine Feminine. We see remnants of this understanding in traditional beliefs and myths of the past. Ancient myths of Egypt, Greece, India, Polynesia, etc all have stories of a great mother. She was given many names. In India, She was Shakti, mother of the universe. In Buddhism She is Prajnaparamita or in human manifestation as Kuan Yin. In Egypt she was Isis, the ideal mother and wife. She is the yin in the Chinese symbol of yin/yang -the two interfacing complementing forces of black and white. She is the black, yielding, female, receptive nurturing yin force.
In Jewish tradition, the feminine side of the Godhead is called Shekhinah which means literally Divine Presence. In some texts of the Old Testament and the the Apocrypha, our Mother is called Wisdom. As we read above, the Christian gnostics called Her "Sophia", the Greek word for Wisdom or Pistis Sophia meaning "Faith-Wisdom".
Later, as our society became more patriarchal and male dominated, Sophia and Shekhinah were obscured from us. The Holy Spirit (Known as pnuema in Greek, a feminine word) had no body. She was changed to a He or It. Sophia was lost in translation but not entirely...not if you knew what to look for. Sophia can still be found in the passages like the one we read above from Apocrypha. She is also in the Old Testament in passages that use the word "wisdom" referring to the Mother. Logos, the "word" of God, is the Greek masculine form of Sophia and equivalent to WISDOM. It refers to God's creative energy; mediator between God & creation.
We read in John 1:1-3 "In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being."
A more correct translation would describe "the Word" as SHE, not HE, the feminine principle of God.
Even though the feminine side of God has been hidden for a long time, people still craved a mother. As all children do, we innately seek our Mother. This explains the devotion given to Mary, the mother of Yeshua. She was a visible symbol of our Mother God. Our Holy Spirit Mother is not pushy. She is not aggressive. She wants a relationship with us but she will not force herself on us. She will make herself known in whatever form is acceptable to us. I believe this is why so many devout people have had visions of Mary or feminine angels coming to them with messages. Our Mother chose to speak to those who sought a feminine Divine Counsel in a form that would be understood and acceptable to the seeker.
It is time now, however, to get to know Her as Herself - without the veil. The Holy Spirit Mother was in Mary, mother of Yeshua but she is much more than mother Mary. She is Sophia. She encompasses all things feminine. She is our Counselor and our Comforter. She is our Mother, our spouse and our sister. Sophia’s work is to raise up the Father’s creation, restoring it to its original form. The Father created it, the Son, Yeshua, redeemed it, and Sophia, the Holy Spirit, raises it up, restores it, renews it, bringing it back to its original unity of love with the Father.
Sophia raised up Yeshua, the Christ (which means "Anointed One"). He was made in the likeness of the Father and anointed with the Spirit of the Mother. The process began with his conception, filling him with wisdom and grace (Luke 2:52). Then at his baptism “the Holy Spirit descended on him in visible form like a dove.” (Luke 3:22) When he began his ministry he quoted Isaiah referring to himself, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners.” (Luke 4:18) These passages show us that he was not only filled with the Holy Spirit, but also with what are called the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.
In Isaiah, we are given a list of the traditional Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety and Fear of the Lord. In 1 Corinthians, Paul lists: Wisdom, Knowledge, Faith, Healing, Miraculous Powers, Prophecy, Discernment, Tongues and Interpretation of Tongues as gifts of the Holy Spirit. All these gifts dwelt and functioned within Jesus.
Now, Sophia raises us up in the same manner. We are birthed by Her into the family of God at our baptism and become full members of the family in our confirmation. When we grow in understanding we are filled with the indwelling of Sophia who gives us the above gifts. That is what gives us power to live in the Way. It is the power that will lead us little by little into the fullness of our lives as Essene Christians. The presence of Sophia, given to all of us for the common good (1 Cor 12:7), is visibly manifested and present through Her gifts.
Sophia's gifts are often referred to as an anointing. In the ancient days people were anointed with oil as a blessing and as a healing. Anointing with Sophia, the Holy Spirit, is the ultimate blessing and healing. It is the restoration of our souls by God. It is the healing of a mothers love. In one place in the scriptures this anointing is referenced as the "Balm in Gilead"
I invite you now to close your eyes as you listen to this beautiful old hymn and allow our Mother to visit you right now. Feel the anointing of Her beautiful spirit and allow Her to heal and restore your soul.
Celebratory Hymn
Click on site above and just listen quietly while reflecting on the gentle love of our Mother, the Balm of Gilead
Discussion of the Message
Those of you who are participating in this service by reading this message on line, can take this time to quietly reflect on the message. If you have comments or questions, you are welcome to write them below
Closing Prayer
Our Father and Mother in Heaven, around us and within us
Thank you for the completeness of your love.
Let us now learn to accept you in that completeness
as our Father and our Mother.
Let us now understand our place in the Family.
and come back to our true home in you
Closing Hymn
Click on the title above and the music will open in another page. Then reduce that page read below for a different version of this old hymn while listening to the music
Softly and tenderly our Mother’s calling,
calling for you and for me;
The Holy Spirit is patiently waiting,
waiting for you and for me.
Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
So very gently Sophia is calling,
calling Her children, come home!
Why should we wait when our Mother is pleading,
pleading for you and for me?
Why should we linger and heed not Her mercies,
mercies for you and for me?
Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
So very gently Sophia is calling,
calling her children, come home!
Run to Her arms, She holds them wide open,
Open for you and for me;
To give us comfort and teach us Her wisdom,
wisdom for you and for me.
Come home, come home;
you who are weary come home;
So very gently Sophia is calling,
calling her children, come home…
calling her children, come home
