The nature of Mother’s Day observances in churches is certainly diverse. One colleague in ministry describes it as an exercise in “keeping women in their place,” while others give flowers to the “most-fertile” mother and ascribe the day as set aside for sentimental journeys. Other ministers bemoan the unintentional “recognition” of the “youngest mother” who was an unmarried teen and others struggle to recognize the oldest mother who is unwilling to tell the truth about her age. Even in the early years following the designation of Mother’s Day as a national observance, those who had petitioned for it grieved the fact of their success because of its blatant commercialization.
Few days are as capable of stirring emotions as this one – and for all sorts of reasons. Inevitably every congregation has those women who are unable to conceive and have never known the opportunity of motherhood. Similarly there are those who have suffered the loss of a child, and perhaps their only child, and such a time brings a refocusing on their loss. Others recently lost their mothers to death and that grief causes them to in some cases seek an escape from those fresh tears.
Yes, all of us do have a biological mother; and many, if not most, were women who provided the care and love and encouragement that are so nobly understood to be the essential elements of Christian virtue and nurturing. Nonetheless, others have experienced far less than that kind of love, and in fact may have suffered at the hands of an abusive or violent matriarch. There are those children who were brought into the world drug-addicted and abandoned. There are those who were emotionally abandoned and ignored. There are those who were constantly reminded of their inadequacies and inabilities and never offered affirmation and praise. Such mothers rarely invoke the sentiments of joy that proper mothering should render.
At the same time there are those incredible women, who in the midst of every trial and circumstance, provide a place of comfort and strength and meaning that creates an environment in which children thrive and grow and mature. They are to be commended and thanked and praised for the good works that they do and we are to be grateful for their love and the many essential blessings they provide to our lives.
In these times of many choices, we see an increasing pattern of single mothers, giving birth to those who will never know a home that included a father and a mother. Others end their pregnancy for fear of the consequences of their choices. Some never are able to conceive again because of those choices and the grief is real that accompanies that recognition. Still others struggle in the midst of troubled families, caught in the pains of strife and anger and bitterness that too often describe the “life and times” of homes and families in need of hope and new beginnings.
Into such a mix of emotions come those ministers, often in their own souls struggling to face the onslaught of emotions and potential pain that might be created by uttering almost any word. Yet Christian ministers are called to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ…a gospel meant for a hurting world full of anxieties, troubles, and misplaced allegiances. This gospel is good news to the poor, forgiveness to every repentant heart, love unbounded and full of promise for new beginnings. This gospel of Jesus is fortunately an appropriate message and when it is the message, it is always to welcoming hearts. The truth is, without God’s help, none of us would have a prayer of getting through the day...any day... much less Mother’s Day.
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