Kingdom Come

We see the same process after Peter denied the Lord three times, then proved in changed behavior that he was truly one with him. 

“Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias…He saith the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest [publicly identify with] thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, [reminding him of the three denials] Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee.

Jesus saith unto him…[You’ll have the chance to prove your words by your actions] Verily, verily, I say unto thee…when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands [in crucifixion exactly as you feared a few nights ago]…signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.” (John 20-21)

Jesus’s notice to Peter of his destiny wasn’t a punishment for his past action, but a “redo” on his betrayal. This is the ultimate relationship restorer – shared experiences and identities.

Likewise, the Woman who denied God in search of personal empowerment was given the chance for a redo through shared experiences and identities.

The following verse is not unique to Jesus the Christ, but reflects Woman’s role as God’s Chosen One as well in every generation after generation.

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his Chosen One into the world, that we might live through him.

No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected / accomplished in us.” (I John 4:7-12)

There is a universal consensus on the importance that mothers – much more so than fathers – play in the development of their children. The relationship between a mother and her child profoundly influents the child’s emotional, mental, physical and social growth and development.

This comes at a tremendous personal cost to women, which many women steadfastly reject. “Women’s rights” demand freedom to kill unwanted babies in utero, and to pursue personal goals while farming out childcare to government agencies.

This comes at a tremendous cost to children. The psychosocial fact is acknowledged by secular agents that it is the mother’s provision of secure attachment from infancy, where children feel consistently loved and supported that is the essential foundation that predicts future emotional, mental, social, and cognitive outcomes.

I grew up in a large family where our domineering father could not tolerate attention being taken away from him, and demanded that infants from birth be left in the crib until fed and attended on schedule, and spanked if they cried for more. And that was just the start of his totalitarian control over our lives.

Our family was one hot mess. As an adult, my mother sobbed out her guilt and regret to me for not taking proper care of us.

On the other end of the spectrum of attachment, one of the central themes in the famous slasher movie “Psycho” is Norman Bates’ intense attachment to his mother, leading him to adopt her persona, including and essentially her rejection of any other women in his life.

I knew a man who was married to a daughter of a Mrs. Bates figure, who, like Norman, had utterly absorbed her mother’s rule rejecting any attachment to anyone else. She actually told me she refused to kiss him to prevent any progression of physical touch. My private name for her was Our Lady Of Perpetual Prepubescence. 

Her husband and his nephew they fostered were even worse hot messes, and I absolutely suspect that her death was not accidental.

Somewhere along the middle of the Attachment spectrum is the mother who endures sleepless nights walking a baby with colic, who gives up the best years of opportunity for professional advancement at work while prioritizing care of her children, who sacrifices intellectual and social stimulation for what seems endless repetitions of infantile songs and books, and once gaining some freedom when the child starts school repeats the worst parts of having and raising children all over again to create a family in which sibling rivalry dominates the baseline home chaos.

And then as adolescents these children are rude, rejecting Mom’s opinions and refusing to spend time with Mom at every opportunity, including moving out of the family home as soon as college or a job makes it possible. They marry and openly declare forsaking Mom, whose financial ability to support herself in old age has often been severely damaged by insufficient employment while raising her children and divorce, while divorced older men increase their wealth by no longer supporting a wife.

Is it worth it?

“Though he / the Chosen One were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” (Hebrews 5:8-9)

“The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are joint-heirs with Christ / the Chosen One; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:16-28)