Papa - a large beaming African-American woman

I never really go to the cinema to watch a film I have no previous knowledge of.
So yesterday was a good break in routine, as I watched Henry Poole is here with the Vallejo-Sanderson clan.
I caught a glimpse of the poster on the way in and recognized the male lead - or so I assumed as his figure took up 60% of the poster and was smack dab in the middle, with a rainbow of females arching over his head.
It looked like it could be a funny ha-ha sorta film, but within the first 5 minutes, I was thrown into some artsy disposition.

*if you don't want to know anything about the film, stop reading now*

Soon, there was mention of the image of Jesus in a water stain on a freshly stuccoed wall, and for the rest of the time, I watched slightly wary of what was to come.
Even now, I'm not sure whether I can say I liked the film altogether.
But something that weaved its way through the movie was the beauty of nurturing brought about by a mothering spirit.

Another thing I rarely do is read a novel, because I take pride in my affinity with reality.
But I started reading The Shack last night and only had to stop because my eyes were failing me.
I even set my alarm early, so I wouldn't sleep my morning away and could get back to this book.
I braced myself for what seemed to be unveiling itself as quite an emotional story.
So far, I can't even summarize what I've covered this morning, but when the main character asked God why the concept of Fatherhood was so dominant when God is neither male nor female, God replied

"Well, there are many reasons for that, and some of them go very deep. Let me say for now that we knew once the Creation was broken, true fathering would be much more lacking than mothering. Don't misunderstand me, both are needed - but an emphasis on fathering is necessary because of the enormity of its absence." (The Shack, p.94)

wow.