“My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and physical education I received from her.” - George Washington
Mother’s Day is the special times of year when you get to celebrate your first best friend and the person you always turn to when you need advice. Mother’s Day is also a great time to show your love for all the other wonderful women in your life. It celebrates and honours the contributions and sacrifices of mothers worldwide. It is typically celebrated on the second Sunday in May each year; although the exact date may vary in some countries. This year, the day will be celebrated on 14th May 2023. In the current scenario, Mother’s Day has become quite a big Celebration. After all, mom is the source of life. This day is celebrated to honour the mother of the family, motherhood in general, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in our society. A mother feeds us, cares for our needs and makes us a good human being. She helps us in our studies and also encourages our talents. Her whole life revolves around her children. She also inculcates qualities of love, care, understanding, helping others, honesty, empathy, etc.
We have many relationships with people around us that we cherish. But, the most important, loved, the pure and divine relationship is that of a mother and child. A mother’s selfless love, care, and affection make it the most significant and Godly relationship. I would like to quote Rudyard Kipling’s words here. He said, “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers”. I truly believe these words of his. We say that God created mankind but our mothers created us. Thus, she is our Brahma, Vishnu, and Mahesh.From the time when a mother conceives her child, she gets emotionally attached to the child. A child is only the flesh and blood of her. She undergoes immense pain while delivering a child. Yet, she can never see her child in pain or any problem. She is the protective shield and safeguards her child in all situations. She spends sleepless nights while raising her child but never complains. Her feelings, emotions, love, care, and affection are completely incomparable and selfless.
Mother as Teacher: A mother is our first teacher. She teaches us to walk, to talk and to eat. She teaches us the basic manners and etiquettes. A mother feeds us, cares for our needs and makes us good human being. She helps us in our studies and also encourages our talents. Her whole life revolves around her children. She also inculcates qualities of love, care, understanding, helping others, honesty, empathy, etc.in us. She inclines us towards believing and having faith in God. We also learn religious things from her. A mother teaches us many moral lessons through story-telling or poetry. She is thus similar to Goddess Saraswati.Mothers are timeless teachers in the classroom of life. Women especially mothers are the most influential educators. They bequeath to us timeless wisdom, a legacy so precious and valuable. Mothers have often shaped our world from the cradle, by rocking, nurturing and instructing children to grow up to make life changing and history- making accomplishments. For every person, there is a mother behind who fostered her child’s sensibilities to their full potential.Mothers remain some of our most powerful teachers in the hands-on laboratory of everyday living. Of all their many attributes…all that comes down to is the heart-a mother’s heart. It has everything to do with the tenderness and toughness, the compassion and conscientiousness of the heart. There is nothing quite comforting as having our mother’s arm wrapped around us when we are sad, lonely, or afraid.
Mothers teach us to believe in God. Mothers teach us the value of God’s word through their lives, personal prayer life and dependence on God’s strength and wisdom. Nothing is as attractive in a woman as the fear of the Lord. Knowing God, honouring God and worshipping God are really the most praiseworthy endeavours a person can ever undertake. Mothers are one of the first indications of the sovereignty of God in our lives. Mothers teach us to have confidence and belief in ourselves. Mothers knew from experience how important for people to believe in themselves in order for children to be whole, strong and grow with a healthy estimation of oneself. One way of parents to breed confidence in a child is to affirm and sharpen his/her thinking. A healthy sense of self-confidence can result in a person to achieve more and celebrate more. Mother’s lessons in life gives us the space to believe in oneself as there is no limit to greatness one can attain or the great things you can accomplish. Mothers teach us the power of words. The words that mothers speak have power. Words can build up a child or tear him down.
Mothers teach us to pray. Prayer is taught by example. It is lived and it is a legacy that is passed on to our children. A woman who can talk to God and hear from Him is a force of strengths and beauty like no other. “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of priest”, an old Spanish saying. A mother’s prayers are a priceless gift, a real treasure, an earnest heartfelt force of power. If you have a mother who prays for you, you are indeed truly blessed.Mothers teach us to live out our legacy. Scripture is certainly consistent about reminding us that we will reap what we sow, and for many of us, our mothers-the greatest women in our lives sowed beautiful seeds of truth, wisdom, joy and peace, a spiritual harvest that is now bearing fruit in us and our children. Mothers have always made a difference and will continue to do so. Mothers have often shaped our world from the cradle by rocking, nurturing and instructing children who grow up to make life-changing and history making accomplishments. For every preacher, president, volunteer worker, employee, fashionista, technician, community worker, doctor, caregiver among others, there is a mother behind them who fostered her child to reach his/her full potential.
Mother as a Friend:Our mother is our first and best friend. She understands everything we say and also what we are not able to say. Her shoulder is always there in the times when we feel low. She laughs with us, plays with us, goes out with us and enjoys with us. A mother never judges us, no matter what wrong we do. She shares her life experiences with us which makes us strong. We can talk about everything to her. She always guides us through difficult times.Being a Mother is a divine mission assigned to women alone. Women are actually given an opportunity and a privilege by God to be His partner in giving life to another human being.A Jewish proverb rightly affirms what most of us have experienced: “A mother understands what a child does not say.” Indeed there exist a dynamic between mother and children. Mothers can hear sentences in the silences of their children. God has given mothers the special gift of intuition because it gives her a strong sense of what is right for her children, what they are good at, how they may excel in the future what gifts and abilities she needs to make sure are developed in their lives as God intended.
Conclusion: After having said about mother, I would like to conclude by saying that words always fall short when you talk about the sacrifice and love of a mother. A mother is definitely next to god or rather above god as she is the one who teaches us to believe in God and have faith in him. She is the most adorable and lovable person in this world. Her prayers and good wishes are always there with her children. So, friends, we should always love and respect our mother and her thoughts. It is our duty to take care of our parents when they get old as they did in our childhood. I request you all to love and respect our parents unconditionally and selflessly and make this world a wonderful place to live. Today, I also take the opportunity to thank my mother and being grateful to her and God for having me in her life.
“Call your mother. Tell her you love her. Remember, you're the only person who knows what her heart sounds like from the inside.”-Rachel Wolchin
Rev. Fr. C. Joseph, Counsellor-St. Joseph’s College (Autonomous) Jakhama, Nagaland
