Diane asked, “Are you going to do a Minute today?” “I want to do one for Mother’s Day, but not sure what to say.” She looked at me with eyes wide open. “You don’t know what to say about Mother’s Day?” Diane knows how important Mom has been to me, to Bruce and Pam. What are the attributes of a good mother? Unconditional love, guidance growing up, discipline when necessary, providing physical necessities, worry… Even though we three kids are retired, she still worries about us…and prayer.
I think of the mothers with small children trapped in the steel plant in Mariupol. No sunlight for two months. Low on food and water, but no lack of love, of worry, of prayer. Seven million Ukrainians have been displaced, many fleeing to Hungary, Moldova, and Poland, millions of mothers with their children. Husbands stayed behind to fight. “What’s happening?” the children wonder, and the best a mother can do is hug, and a hug is never the least but always the best. You, child, are loved. I think of the mothers who bring their children across our borders, legally or illegally is not my point. They come here wanting their children to grow up with more opportunities than they had. And I’ll close my list, it obviously could be much longer, with the single mother deep in the city, not enough income, no husband, no safety in the streets but trying her best to care for her children.
Whatever the outward circumstances, a good mother, a loving mother is always an example of good works. The works of motherhood from diapers to school activities, from hugs in sadness to happiness in fun times, all these works, unnoticed by the world, spring from love, and the best love is selfless love sanctified by Christian faith. Paul wrote to Timothy, “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well” (2 Timothy 1:5). A Christian mother’s love is generational, “their works do follow them” (Revelation 14:13).
Another reason I wasn’t sure how to address Mother’s Day, the controversy over abortion. This weekend and every day that remains, I thank God that my mother loved and raised me. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom!
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