This week I had a question why I would pray to God as Abba/Amma (father/mother)? Short answer it felt right for the journey I was on with the desert elders who were approached with Abba/Amma.
Thinking about it some more I was wondering why did Jesus tell us to call God Abba? The obvious reason would be to make a distinction between most of the pagan/female deities, but what does "abba" really mean? Is it a title or a role? What does it mean to be a father? We all have ideas what a mother is and the attributes she has, mostly because we all have a very personal and physical experience of our mothers. For fathers it lies a bit different. They actually have to choose to be one. But how can you be a father?
Jesus tells us that when you have seen him, you have seen the Father, so obviously Jesus shows an example of fatherhood through his life. In other parts of scripture we find motherly attributes connected to God, and obviously both male and female are created in God's image, so you would expect God to be a bit of both.
I think it is a positive trend to see the view of fatherhood around me change, where dads take more of a nurturing role with their children, as moms have jobs. There are single parents of either gender who take on both roles as well. As the face of parenthood changes, maybe God is OK with us calling him mom or dad, as long as we keep asking questions what it means to be either parent and we go back to Jesus who showed us what being a parent looks like.
