“A temptation women who are mothers know only too well is to want to hold on when it is time to let go. As the other person grows, so must I. I need to accept and even demonstrate the possibility of a change in relationship. There needs to be the sensitivity to know when it is time to withdraw. A model for this can be found in the Jewish mystical doctrine of Tsimtsum: ‘God as omnipresent and omnipotent was everywhere. God filled the universe with his being. How then could the creation come about? God had to create by withdrawal. God created the not Him, the other, by self-concentration. On the human level, withdrawal of myself aids the other to come into being.’ The letting go happens as we make space for the reality of another to unfold and as we become increasingly sensitive to the time when we are not needed. The pastor, because of her multifaceted relationships with the congregation, has the challenging opportunity to let the relationship take new form and shape. As the other matures, so must the nature of the relationship.” (Brita Gill, in Women Ministers, 103)
