Mothering

Just in case you need reminding, Mothers' Day (originally Mothering Sunday) falls this month on March 14th. On it, we will treat our mothers well - as if one day in the year was enough! - and provide special treats and, more importantly, say 'Thank you' for all that mothers provide for us, so often taken for granted.

To be honest, I have always preferred the day to be called 'Mothering Sunday' - possibly because I have no children myself. 'Mothering Sunday' seems to me to cover that much wider range of 'mothering' that all of us - men and women can give to one another.

The true nature of mothering is to be self-giving and to put the other first. The true nature of mothering is to receive thanks gladly, but expect to be taken for granted most o the time. Mothering may need sometimes to be tough, but only out of love. Mothering is not given only to children, but also from adult to adult as we care for one another in our bad times, giving practical help, emotional comfort and the rock-like certainty that there is someone there for us.

We are so used to thinking of God as 'Father' that many still fling up their hands in horror when it's suggested that God should also be addressed as 'Mother' and see it as some recent form of extreme feminism. But in fact, God is considered as a mother from at least 3000 years ago. In Psalm 131 we read, 'I still my soul and make it quiet: like a child upon its mother's breast, my soul is quieted within me'. And is Hosea 5 it says, 'Yet it was I who taught (you) to walk, I took them up in my arms. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks'.

So, this Mothering Sunday, be glad that God cares for us with the tenderness of a mother, and be ready to receive that love, and to give it to others.