We here this morning share at least one thing in common… we
all have or had a mother. Perhaps just a
few of us lost our mother when we were young and with a rare exception each of
our mothers did a pretty good job of nurturing us to adulthood (and
beyond). Ann Jarvis certainly did. She gave birth to eleven children, but only four
survived into adulthood. Being a woman
of deep faith, Ann drew on her profound loss to fuel an incredible life of
public service in mid-19th century West Virginia. She took care of sick neighbors, labored to
improve sanitary conditions in her area, provided aid and comfort to the
soldiers of both the North and the South, and after the war worked to heal her
fractured community.
Immediately after her mother’s death in May of 1905, her
daughter Anna began work to fulfill one of her mother’s lifelong dreams:
setting aside one day of rest every year for those who bear the duties of
motherhood. Three years later, on the
second Sunday in May 1908, her church – Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in
Grafton, WV – celebrated the very first Mother’s Day. Unsatisfied with merely a local observance, Anna
began a letter writing campaign so extensive and successful just three years
later Mother’s Day was celebrated in every state of the Union and on four
different continents. It was an idea and
movement so popular that in 1914, just six years after the initial church
service, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed Mother’s Day to be a national
holiday.
Since then, as we say now, it has gone Viral. Today is the busiest day of the year for
florists and restaurants and marks the highest annual number of phone calls made and greeting cards sent. And typically, after Christmas and Easter, it
is the most attended service of the church year.
And speaking of church services, even I, at a tender, young
age, could sense our preacher’s angst on this day. Because my childhood church did not adhere to
the lectionary cycle, there always seemed to be added pressure on him to
deliver the goods around national days of celebration; none more so than
Mother’s Day.
His is a fate I do not have to share since we are a lectionary-based
church and assigned readings often do not lend themselves to mothering. This year, however, the Gospel of John pairs
well with the moment at hand. Consider
what Jesus says and hear them as words, not just from him to his followers, but
also from your mother to you:
·
“If
you love me, you will keep my commandments.” – not as in “Do what your mother
says, or else!”, but rather as in “Mother knows best.” If you want to live a good life, follow your
mother’s advice because she knows what is best for you and will never lead you
astray. Likewise, Jesus’ commands are
not arbitrary tests of obedience. They
are lanterns in the darkness and guideposts pointing the way for us to experience
life in in all its fulness.
·
“You are in me and I am in you.” I don’t know if it is accurate to say your
mother knows you better than anyone else, but certainly your mother knows you
in ways no one else can. And only you
know how much of your mother you carry within, even years after she is
gone. The mother/child bond is an
intimate, intertwining relationship of unparalleled depth and importance. It is similar to how we experience Christ in
our lives; a mystical connection of knowing and being known. Both relationships help us to form the maps
we use to chart our course through life.
·
“I
will not leave you orphaned.” Did you
know within moments after being born a baby responds to its mother’s
voice? Or when a mother holds her baby
to her chest, the child hears the mother’s heartbeat, recognizes it from the
womb, and is soothed by it? Or that a
mother’s hug releases hormones in her child which promote feelings of safety
and comfort? Or the love and affection a
child receives from its mother early in life leads to better cognitive and
emotional development throughout life?
These physical responses of our mother form an unbreakable spiritual
bond not unlike what Jesus promises to his followers. After he is gone, he tells them, he will send
his Spirit to abide in them forever. He
promises not to abandon them or leave them alone. Long after our mother is no longer a daily
presence in our lives and certainly long after she is gone, her love and her
wisdom and her example remains with us and in us as a spiritual reality.
I am so
glad Vestry members Dan, Bob, Grier, and TD are hosting this year’s Mother’s
Day Brunch and I am especially looking forward to seeing all the pictures you
have shared of your mother. I suspect
they will be sacramental – outward and visible signs of an inward and invisible
grace. And it will not surprise me at
all if this becomes an annual Mother’s Day tradition here at St. Paul’s.
I have never been sure if this day is to be called Mother’s Day or Mothers’ Day. It can be argued either way, I suppose, but perhaps Anna Jarvis should have the final say-so (after all, she started all of this). Anna said this is to be Mother’s Day because it is meant to honor and recognize your particular mother, not Mothers’ Day as a focus on all mothers. Her distinction, I think, is especially helpful because while not all women have given birth, we all, as I said, have or had a mother. This morning we pause to honor and give thanks to the one who loved us so deeply she shared with us her “commandments”, who remains in us, and whose witness and presence returns to us over and over again.
