May 10, 2009
Happy Mother’s Day
“A wise son causeth a father to rejoice, And a foolish son is an affliction to
his mother.” Prov. 10:1, Young’s Literal Translation
My husband told me his mom used to make him sit at a table with pen and paper
and write a “Thank you” letter to people who have given him gifts during
Christmas or his birthday. He said
he used to not want to do it. Now
he sees the wisdom in it.
One of my friends can’t function well if she hasn’t had an afternoon nap even
for just 30 minutes. She said her
mother used to force them to sleep in the afternoon so they’d grow taller.
She claims she had long stopped believing on the latter but still finds
her afternoon nap energizes her to work longer and enjoy it.
Another friend said her mother taught her valuable lessons about hard life and
working hard to get what she wants.
She is one of the most hardworking people I’ve ever known.
She wakes up at 3am to cook for her family and spends the rest of the day
helping other people in some other ways.
Her mother was very strict to her back then and her parenting style
wasn’t what we’d call ideal, but my friend learned a lot from her.
My own mother encouraged me to read even as a little child.
I remember I wasn’t even in the first grade then and yet I could already
read Puss in Boots in English and re-tell the story from memory in Filipino.
Now, I still spend a lot of my time reading books and online.
I am still as fascinated with the written word as I was with my picture
book back when I was small. My
lifelong dream still includes visiting famous libraries and meeting my favorite
authors.
Most of what we do and who we are
right now was shaped and influenced by our mothers.
Our memories of our firsts are inclined by what and how our mommies did
it. Even most of our morals and
ethics are “dictated” by how our moms perceived and taught it to us.
Our ideals, faith and guiding principles are in most cases fashioned by
our mothers.
Sometimes we look to change these ideals and principles because they don’t seem
appropriate anymore. Their style of
running a household seems outdated.
Their manner of doing things sometimes doesn’t apply to our fast-paced
microwaveable lifestyle. Their
ideas and principles seem antiquated compared to the instant, practical and
convenient information that we need every running minute.
Sometimes this concerns me. It
forces me to think and ask myself – when it’s my turn to be a mother, what else
can I teach my children? If
everything is available to them within seconds, if whatever is obtainable within
minutes, if anything is possible since technology is improving every hour, what
else can motherhood offer to these children?
If this and the future generations live in a do-it-yourself age, what
purpose does a mother have? Will
motherhood be also a thing of the past, legends that will be debated whether
myth or facts, a noun entry from a dictionary and thesaurus?
I hope and pray not. I hope that
despite the change of time and the speed of our communication, when our hearts
are hurting we can still run to our mothers.
I hope that we still think of them with fondness and warm memories.
They may not be a perfect person (maybe just the closest) and yet they
are the ones we still look up to.
I want my children and the future children to inherit the unconditional love,
undying hope and immovable patience of the mothers that we know.
I pray they see in us a faith that not only moves mountains but also a
love that covers a multitude of sins.
I hope to pass on to them the lessons we learned about being a person,
helping another soul and hoping to make a better world for one and all.
May our mothers be continually blesssed!
May all the present mothers be a living testimony of God’s love.
May all the future mothers be the answers to their mother’s prayers.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Beth R. Viaje-Mason
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