When I was a girl, I heard preachers preach various iterations of the following story. An airplane hits dangerous and frightening turbulence. Everyone on the flight tightens their seat belts and feels extreme anxiety except for one little girl who continues calmly playing with her doll, unconcerned about the situation. A woman sitting next to her asks: "Aren't you afraid?" The little girl answers: "No, my daddy is the pilot and he knows I am on board."
Over the years when I have faced turbulence in my life, I have remembered this story. It is a story about relationship with a heavenly father who loves us and who has the power to pilot us through turbulence to safety. In hard economic times, I remember that God is not only Father, but God is also Mother. God Almighty. The God of breast and womb. The fecund God.
And Jesus is an elder brother who reminds us of our relationship with God who loves us with a love that wants to provide us with all our needs. "Consider the lilies of the field" (Matthew 6:28). Jesus teaches us to love each other with a radical love that takes us to a radical economy, an economy of generosity, of debt forgiveness, and of commensality
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