Let There Be Havens
Mothering the World Back Into Light
“I believe we need to mother this world back into light—to lift one another out of the darker edges and back into this gift-song of existence.”
—Liz Bell Young, Let There Be Havens: A Gentle Invitation to Hospitality1
We Need To Mother This World
Liz’s words: “We need to mother the world back into light…”2 echoes what has been stirring deep in my soul.
I’ve been working on a book project on “mothering,” matriarchy, and “the maternal spirit.” I gasped when I read Liz’s book. Her coining of the word “havens” as maternal springs of nurture grabs at my heart. It parallels the work I hope to continue in this third act of my life.
I feel so grateful that Liz Bell Young came across my path.
Or across my inbox.
This is why I love what I do.
I am privileged to meet vibrant thought leaders bringing great ideas into the world.
That “air” is the air I want to breathe and the air I want “us” to breathe.
Air that breathes faith, hope, and love.3
Mothering the World Back Into Light
As an author, I continually repeat to my readers, “If you get one sentence, one paragraph, one life-giving thought from my books, I feel satisfied.”
Liz Bell Young gave me that in that one paragraph, which I chisel down to one sentence:
“We need to mother this world back into light—to lift one another out of the
darker edges and back into the gift-song of existence.”
Mothering is defined, “The process of caring for children as their mother or of caring for people in the way that a mother does.”4
I purport that not all “mothers” actually give birth to children.
I know many women who “mother” others and do it well without having gone through the birthing process.
Liz talks about Sybil, who “mothered” her in a critical time in her life.
She writes, “Our family would go to Sibyl’s house on Sundays. In her kitchen, we would dip a wooden spoon into the honey jar, listen to people read from good books and the Bible, and then run through her garden, always full of tomatoes and strawberries. Sibyl knew how to inspire us, magnify us, kneel gently at our level.”
Because of that time at Sibyl’s house, Liz and Sybil created a deep trust and bond.
Later in Liz's life, God would profoundly use Sibyl (see p. 36 in Let There Be Havens).
Maybe You’ve Had a Sibyl in Your Life
I'd love to hear your thoughts after listening to my conversation with Liz Bell Young.
I’ve had a couple of “Sibyls” in my life.
I wouldn’t be where I am today had they not been in my life.
Would you be so kind as to share someone in your life that has perhaps “mothered” you?
What qualities, characteristics, or virtues did they possess that helped you through a difficult passage or journey?
I’m eager to hear from you.
https://www.tyndale.com/p/let-there-be-havens/9781496482235
https://www.tyndale.com/p/let-there-be-havens/9781496482235
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20corinthians%2013&version=TLB
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/mothering