Motherhood and the (In)vulnerability of the Imago Dei

Abstract

Whenever I steal a few moments of calm to nurse my youngest, newborn child in solitude, I find myself both marveling at his utter beauty and meditating on the painful nature of his vulnerability. My son’s tiny body—such powerfully formed flesh—is absolutely amazing in its lust for life, in its ability to seek and use nourishment, in its soft and sensuous invitation to embrace. I see in his embodied longing the image of Divine Eros, the holy longing for life and love. His already blossoming sense of sociality, his first tentative smiles, his delight at our almost perfectly attuned relationship, and his fascination with his father and older siblings all astound me and remind me of the interdependence of the universe and the communal nature of the divine life itself. His rapid growth and development are also constant reminders of human participation in reality as an unending sacred process of both increase and decrease, of perpetual movement toward ever greater self-transcendence and love. And in the exciting prospects of my son’s wide-open future, I see the yet-unknown possibilities offered by the Author of possibility itself. In my precious child, I see the beloved image of divine beauty, holy longing, sacred life, and perfect love in the flesh.