Claim. SMM teaches that the parent-child relationship — specifically God-as-Parent and humans-as-children — is the central axis of the universe; everything else (love, life, ideals) flows from this relation, not the other way around.
Elaboration. “If you pray and ask God, ‘What is the center of heaven and earth, and what is the root of the universe?’ He will say that it is the relationship between a father and his sons and daughters, the parent-child relationship” (4.1.-god-and-human-beings-are-related-as-parent-and-child, 19-158, 1968.1.1).
The implication is non-trivial. UC theology denies that the divine-human relation is primarily Creator-creature, Judge-defendant, or Sovereign-subject. Those framings appear in CSG only to be relativized — God’s omnipotence and omniscience are subordinated to His parenthood, because “the highest place where father and son can meet is the central point where their love, life and ideals intersect” (ibid, 69-78, 1973.10.20).
This grounds the practical theology of the chapter: God invests Himself into creation “120 percent, hundreds of times over, through excruciating hardship and difficulty” (ibid, 197-164, 1990.1.13) — language unintelligible if the dominant model is sovereign decree rather than parental self-giving.
See also. csg-god-is-personal-with-intellect-emotion-will, csg-god-cannot-love-without-a-partner