She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue. – Proverbs 31:25-26
I write a lot about – or at least I take pictures of – the river. Of course it is a useful metaphor and this morning it seems especially apt in terms of thinking about Mothers Day… or Mothering Sunday, as it was called in England when I was growing up.
I don’t always post a Mother’s Day message but this year, as it’s the first since my own mother passed away, I wanted to take a run at it. My point however is not anything in terms of grief or finality but – instead and like the river – the blessing of continuity.
Because, like we have discussed before, life is a river and it flows on. And the comforting truth is that everything my mum, Grace, represented and all the generous love that Rebekah’s mama, Nell, gave so completely coalesced over the years and flowed together and has found new and creative and powerful expressions in and through our children’s mother, Rebekah, and her ministry as a mama in so many beautiful ways.
Recognizing the unique and too often taken for granted gift and grace that is Everyone’s Mother is – we all know – a practical impossibility because there is no greetings card or bunch of flowers or jewelry that possibly can do justice… But wait, I think I just heard Rebekah say, “Try chocolate cake; that just might do it!”
So from me she has lovely flowers and a nice card and a spectacular piece of artwork and words. But even my best words don’t begin to come close to what needs to be said.
My words to Rebekah, then, are simply these: “Thank you. Thank you for our children. Thank you for the home we have made together. Thank you for your patient and far-reaching love.“
And then, for everyone else, I can’t do much better than pass on what our loving but always edgy daughter Naomi often likes to say: “Your mama!” And of course, I reply, “No, yours!!”
In love and because we need all the love we can possibly share; I daresay a river of it – DEREK
