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Spiritual reflection to start the day with Dr Linden Bicket, a teacher of literature and religion at Edinburgh University's School of Divinity

Good morning. It was recently World Breastfeeding Week, a global campaign that always resonates very deeply with me. Breastfeeding my baby daughter was something that I found both incredibly challenging, and eventually a vital and enriching part of becoming a mother. It created a lasting bond between me and my little girl. I have memories of feeding her throughout the quiet of the night that I will always cherish, though of course I seem to have blurred out most of the deep tiredness I felt at the time of those sweet memories. I recognise too that not everyone is able to feed their baby for a whole variety of reasons including lack of support and, something that has been very visible in recent months because of starvation in places like Gaza and Sudan, food insecurity and malnutrition. I have felt haunted by images of tiny, underweight babies who desperately need breastmilk or formula to survive. My heart aches for the mothers who long to feed their children, but wake to their baby’s cries, unable to soothe and nourish them with the milk they need.
The Book of Isaiah tells us: Can a woman forget her nursing child or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these might forget yet I will not forget you.
These words remind me of the nurturing love of God. The anguish that I feel for mothers and babies amidst famine coexists in my heart with hope and longing – for God’s loving kindness, goodness, and compassion.
Loving God, our world is very often full of pain and sadness. Help us to find you amidst our grief. We cry out for those who are suffering and ask you to draw close to them in your tenderness and love. Amen