Category: Gender

Jesus: Son of Man

Ruth Kirk

The Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8; NLT).

Son of Man,
And Son of God,
Guiding us
With staff and rod;

Son of Joy,
And Son of Love,
Living in
Our flesh and blood;

Son of Patience,
And of Peace,
Showing us
Your perfect way;

Son of Truth,
And Son of Light:
Help us, always –
Day and night.

Lord, help us! (Joel 1:19; NLT).

The LORD is my helper (Hebrews 13:6; NLT).

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26; NLT).

References

He guides me along right paths (Psalm 23:3; NLT).

Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit (Luke 10:21; NLT).

God is love (1 John 4:8; NLT).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

The Lord is peace (Judges 6:24; NLT).

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6; NLT)

The Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6; NKJV).

God is light (1 John 1:5; NLT).

Worship

Ruth Kirk

As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother (Julian of Norwich).

Ah, my Father and my Mother:
God of gods: there is no other;

Holy Spirit: Helper, Sister;
Jesus: Healer, Teacher, Brother –

I love you, and you love me:
Three in One, and One in Three.

You’re my source, my life, my goal;
You’re my breath: my living soul.

The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul (Genesis 2:7; KJV).

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).

My sign of the cross

Ruth Kirk

Each morning, whilst waking up, I make my sign of the cross. I deeply love this comforting, dedicatory and meaningful gesture, even though its traditionally-associated words: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen, are gendered. Yesterday, as I was following my usual practice, new words followed, so I wrote them down to form this blog.

Over many years, I have developed my own way of making the sign of the cross. My approach is based on a combination of the Anglican method, the Catholic method, the Orthodox method, and some spontaneous additions of my own.

This is how I make the sign of the cross:

  • Just before saying the first word, I bring together the thumb and first two fingers of my right hand, then kiss their tips.
  • Keeping these three fingers together, I say, “In the name of the Father”,  whilst touching my fingers to my forehead.
  • Next, I use them to touch my breastbone, whilst saying, “And of the Son”.
  • Then I use them to touch my right shoulder, then my left, whilst saying, “And of the Holy Spirit”.
  • Lastly, I say, “Amen; amen; amen”. On the first, “amen”, I touch my heart; on the second, my forehead; and on the third, I end by kissing my three fingertips again.

This might sound complicated, but through regular practice this little gesture, with its accompanying words of self-dedication, soon becomes habitual. Making my sign of the cross reminds me that I am always in God’s loving care, and enables me to re-dedicate myself and my life to God.

This way of making the sign of the cross can be used in many different situations, for example:

  • On waking
  • Before praying with words
  • On entering wordless prayer
  • Before eating, drinking, taking pills, or having any kind of medical test, treatment, procedure, or surgery
  • Before beginning a task, especially one which is challenging, or sacrificial
  • On setting out from home
  • When entering a feared situation
  • During a panic attack
  • On boarding a plane
  • Immediately before an interview
  • When feeling tempted to think, say, or do, something we know to be wrong
  • As we settle down for the night

The possibilities for re-dedicating ourselves to God’s care and service with this little gesture are endless. So, here is today’s prayer, whose rhythm fits exactly with making my sign of the cross, as described above:

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit:
I – love – You.

Mother, Daughter, Comforter:
I – love – You.

Brother, Sister, Counsellor:
I – love – You.

Neighbour, Stranger, Enemy:
I – love – You.

Shepherd, Saviour, Advocate:
I – love – You.

Threefold God, in Everyone:
I – love – You!

I love you, LORD; you are my strength (Psalm 18:1; NLT).

References

We are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).

There is one Savior, one faith, one baptism, one God and Creator of all, who is over all, who works through all and is within all (Ephesians 4:5-6; TIB).

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always” (Matthew 28:18-20; NLT).

 

I love you

Ruth Kirk

I love you, YHWH, my strength (Psalm 18:1; TIB).

I love you with all my mind:
My Mother, Father, God.

I love you with all my heart:
My Brother, Jesus, Lord.

I love you with all my soul:
My Sister, Spirit, Truth.

I love you with all my strength:
Yahweh, The Three-In-One.

YHWH, our God, YHWH is One! (Deuteronomy 6:4; TIB).

You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Mark 12:30; NLT).

References

Mother, Father God: The personal name of God, Yahweh, which is revealed to Moses in Exodus 3, is a remarkable combination of both feminine and masculine grammatical endings. The first part of God’s name in Hebrew, “Yah,” is feminine, and the last part, “weh,” is masculine (David Wheeler-Reed, The Conversation).

Equality of Motherhood and Fatherhood
: Julian of Norwich (1342–1416), insisted that, “As truly as God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother.” She saw no contradiction in attributing both parental roles to God, believing that both are necessary to understand the fullness of divine love and care (Revelations of Divine Love).

You forgot the God who gave you birth (Deuteronomy 32:18; NIV).

As a mother consoles a child, so I will console you (Isaiah 66:13; NET).

I am God, and not man; the Holy One within thee (Hosea 11:9; BST).

This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God (Mark 1:1; NLT).

Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother! (Matthew 12:50; NLT).

The Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6; NKJV).

Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. For the Spirit that God has given you does not enslave you and trap you in fear; instead, through the Spirit God has adopted you as children (Romans 8:14-15; TIB).

The Spirit, too, comes to help us in our weakness. For we don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit expresses our plea with groanings too deep for words. And God, who knows everything in our hearts, knows perfectly well what the Spirit is saying, because her intercessions for God’s holy people are made according to the mind of God (Romans 8:26-7; TIB).

 

All things are pure

Ruth Kirk

Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure (Titus 1:15; NLT).

All things are holy,
And all things are pure.

All things are precious,
And all things are good.

All things are pleasant,
And all things are clean:

God is within them,
And Yahweh is love!

There is one Savior, one faith, one baptism, one God and Creator of all, who is over all, who works through all and is within all (Ephesians 4:5-6; TIV).

God is love (1 John 4:16; NLT).

References

God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good (Genesis 1:31; NLT).

Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean (Acts 11:9; NLT).

 

Yahweh

Ruth Kirk

You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation (Psalm 89:26; NLT).

Yahweh, my Father;
Jesus, my Brother;
Spirit, my Counsellor:
Help me to pray.

Yahweh, my Mother;
Jesus, my Teacher;
Spirit, my Comforter:
Guide me today.

Yahweh, my Maker;
Jesus, my Shepherd;
Spirit, my Advocate:
Don’t let me stray.

Yahweh, my Bedrock;
Jesus, my Saviour;
Spirit, my Fortitude:
You are my way.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6; NLT).

Reference

Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice – I will show you what he is like: He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep, and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built (Luke 6:47-8; NLT).

 

Human gender

Ruth Kirk

Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them; female and male, God made them (Genesis 1:27; TIB). 

Introduction
Recently, in a split second, God showed me a fresh way of understanding human gender. This experience rocked me to the core, especially as I was very ill with covid at the time.

The creation of human beings
Until that day, I accepted that Genesis 1:27 (see above), regardless of translation, meant human beings were created either female or male, although I knew that, in reality, there are many exceptions to this general principle. Now, however, I saw that when creating us in the divine image, God makes each of us ‘female and male’, not ‘female or male’.

Embryonic development
Every human embryo starts with undifferentiated, bipotential genital structures, which have the potential to develop into either male or female sexual organs (“Sexual differentiation in humans”: Wikipedia). Only later in gestation do these structures generally become female or male. However, for about 1 in 300 babies, gender at birth is unclear, ambiguous, or hidden. This makes complete sense once we recognise that everyone is somewhere on a spectrum of feminine to masculine.

Oestrogen and testosterone
Furthermore, all adults manufacture both oestrogen and testosterone, both of which are essential to every aspect of our health, mood and functioning. Within each individual, these hormones are present in a personal, changing balance throughout life. Their ratio places us all on a gender continuum. Some of us incline more towards femininity, others, towards masculinity, regardless of our sexual organs. It is therefore essential to remember that we all have both feminine and masculine hormones.

We also need to be aware that ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ behaviours are largely learned from parental and societal assumptions, customs, expectations and pressures, which vary widely throughout the world. Seeing gender as a simple, absolute, binary split between female and male is therefore a social construct, unconsciously absorbed during childhood. Whatever gender we most strongly identify with, we are all both female and male – just like Yahweh (please see my top-level menu: ‘God’s gender’ for more information about this).

Conclusion
One final detail about my ‘human gender’ revelation continues to amaze me: God sent the prayer-poem below several hours before the insight described above! God really is amazing! So now, here is today’s prayer…

My dear friends, now we are God’s children, but it has not been revealed what we are to become in the future. We know that when it comes to light we will be like God, for we will see God as God really is (1 John 3:2; TIB).

Every child
Is your much-loved daughter,
And every child is your son –
So you want us all
To grow like Christ:
Our God, may your will be done!

Every adult:
Your precious daughter,
And every adult, your son –
So you long for us
To become like you:
Our God, may your kingdom come!

Gender: irrelevant!
You love all!
So let us make no mistake –
For your peace on earth
Is beyond our reach:
Until we love all, for your sake!

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you (1 Thessalonians 3:12; NIV).

References

We will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:15; NLT).

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5; NIV).

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ (Ephesians 5:2; NLT).

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ (Ephesians 4:13; NLT).

May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10; NLT).

Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8; NLT).

Love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; NLT).

Love the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19; NKJV).

Show love to foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:19; NLT).

Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44; NLT).

 

Good morning!

Ruth Kirk

When I wake up, you are still with me!

Good morning, my Maker,
I love you so much!
Thank you for giving me life.
Thank you for leading me
Day after day,
And helping me face every fear.

Good morning, Lord Jesus,
I love you so much!
Thank you for guiding my steps.
Thank you for caring,
Forgiving my sins,
And sharing each failure and tear.

Good morning, dear Spirit,
I love you so much!
Thank you for staying so close.
Thank you for teaching me,
Living within,
And helping me, year after year.

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26; NLT).

References

It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning (Psalm 92:2; NLT).

I love you, Lord; you are my strength (Psalm 18:1; NLT).

There is … one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all (Ephesians 4:5-6; NLT).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us (Colossians 3:11; NLT).

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you (Romans 8:11; NLT).

We are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16; NLT).

 

Hatred

Ruth Kirk

Whenever we ‘Christians’ declare angrily, or self-righteously, that we hate others, we can be sure that we are not following Jesus, who taught that we are to love everyone, including our enemies.

So, whoever the targets of our hatred, prejudice, discrimination, rejection, exploitation, abuse, or violence are, for example:

Refugees
Immigrants
People whose faith is different from ours
People who speak a language different from ours
People whose skin is a different colour from ours
People whose gender is different from ours
People whose sexuality is different from ours
People who dress differently from us
People whose customs and values are different from ours
Poor people
Rich people
Unemployed people
Homeless people
Prisoners
Refugees
People who are different from us physically, mentally, intellectually, developmentally, emotionally, neurologically, or spiritually
Children
Politicians
Strangers
Foreigners
Enemies
Anyone at all

… we can be absolutely sure that we are not behaving like Christians, becauseGod is love.

God and Love are synonymous, inclusive and universal. Therefore, all hatred is incompatible with the Christian faith, as taught by Jesus, our Saviour and example.

Anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love (1 John 4:8; NLT).

Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ (Ephesians 5:2; NLT).

References

He loves us with unfailing love; the LORD’s faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 John 4:16; NLT).

Love your neighbour as yourself (Leviticus 19:18; NLT).

Love the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19; NKJV).

Show love to foreigners (Deuteronomy 10:19; NLT).

Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44; NLT).

Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked (Luke 6:35; NLT).

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:44-8; NIV).

When they came to the place that is called called The Skull, there they crucified him… And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:33-4; ESV).

Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me (Matthew 25:40; NLT).

 

Here, on earth

Ruth Kirk

There is one Savior, one faith, one baptism, one God and Creator of all, who is over all, who works through all and is within all (Ephesians 4:5-6; TIB).

Here, on earth,
In sun and rain;
Here, in beauty,
Joy, and pain;

Here, in life,
In good and bad;
Here, in all
That makes us sad;

Here, in every
Heart and soul,
Is God: the One
Who makes us whole.

He bruises, but He binds up; He wounds, but His hands make whole (Job 5:18; NKJV).

References

Will God really dwell on earth with humans? (2 Chronicles 6:18; NIV).

The Word was made flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14;  HNV).