Mother's Day, 2023

By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host

Mother’s Day is a special day that has been set aside to honor mothers.  It is a day celebrated across the globe.  The modern version of Mother's Day originated in the United States, observed on the second Sunday in May. 

Setting aside a special day to honor mothers, and mothering, has been a part of every culture.  Mothers birth us into the world, bring us into our family, teach us and nurture us along the way.  They listen, and provide words of wisdom when they can.  They are the ones who picked us up when we fell, and unconditionally loved us when we journeyed astray.  

Festivals and days of the year honoring mothers, and mother goddesses, go back to ancient times.  During the Middle Ages a custom developed visiting one's mother on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday of Lent.  In Britain the custom became "Mothering Sunday."  In the United States the modern version of Mother's Day was established by Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia whose mother was an organizer of various women's groups who promoted friendship and health.  May 12, 1907, she held a memorial service for her late mother in Grafton, West Virginia.  Over the next five years the day began to be observed by nearly every state, and in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson called for the day to become a national holiday.

On Mother's Day florists are on high alert.  Restaurants a filled with families enjoying their time with Mom.  For some of us, we face Mother's Day without our mother residing on earth, anymore.  For those, it is a time of remembrance, and introspection.  

Mothers are life-bearers, a unique gift from God.  Our mother gave us life, and in return, at lease once per year, we express our gratitude on a special day, honoring her with gifts and a visit, or a phone call when she is far away like my mother is.    

Jarvis promoted wearing a white carnation as a tribute to one's mother.  The custom that developed changed to a red or pink carnation to represent a living mother, or a white carnation for a mother who was deceased.  Over time the custom of honoring one's mother began to include those who served in mothering roles, such as grandmothers, or aunts.  Over time the sending of cards and the giving of gifts became synonymous with the day.  Bothered by the commercialization of Mother's Day, Jarvis spent the final years of her life seeking to abolish the holiday.

• Proverbs 1:8-9: "Pay close attention, my child, to your father's wise words and never forget your mother's instructions. For their insight will bring you success, adorning you with grace-filled thoughts and giving you reins to guide your decisions."
• Ephesians 6:1-3: "Children, if you want to be wise, listen to your parents and do what they tell you, and the Lord will help you. For the commandment, "Honor your father and your mother," was the first of the Ten Commandments with a promise attached: "You will prosper and live a long, full life if you honor your parents."
• Proverbs 31:10: "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."
• Isaiah 66:13: "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you."
• Isaiah 49:15: "Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne?"
• Proverbs 31:25: "She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."
• Proverbs 31:26: "She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue."
• Proverbs 31:28–29: "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: 'Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.'"
• Deuteronomy 6:6–7: "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."
• Proverbs 31:31: "Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."
• Psalm 139:13-14: "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well."
• Genesis 3:20: "The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living."
  
• 1 Peter 3:4: "You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God."
• Deuteronomy 4:9: "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."
• Luke 2:51: "And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart."

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