Both mother and child (1 Thessalonians 2:1-8)

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Our reading from 1 Thessalonians concludes with a layered metaphor. Paul, speaking for Silas and Timothy, describes their relationship with the church in Thessalonica: “We were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, so we cared for you.” In their ministry to Thessalonica, according to Paul, they have been both the children and the mothers nursing the children.