On this, another Mother's Day

   

     "The hand that rocks the cradle moves the world." 

 — William Ross Wallace (1865)

     On this, another Mother's Day, I find my heart bursting with gratitude. To many of you, like myself, we stand in awe of our grown children. To those of you who are still serving, know that you are in the greatest career of all time — motherhood. 

     The following is a beautiful tribute to all who embrace the holy privilege of guiding young lives to adulthood. 

     I wish I could give credit to the author who has so accurately captured the true essence of motherhood. 

     Finding it in my files, I thought it too delightful not to share. The power of a mother's love cannot be underestimated.   

     "The young mother set her foot on the path of life. 'Is this the long way?' she asked. And the guide said,'Yes, and the way is hard. And you will be old before you reach the end of it. But, the end will be better than the beginning.' But the young mother was happy and she would not believe that anything could be better than these years. So, she played with her children, and gathered flowers for them along the way, and bathed them in the clear streams, and the sun shone on them, and the young mother cried, 'Nothing will ever be lovelier than this.' 

     Then the night came, and the storm, and the path was dark, and the children shook with fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and covered them with her mantle. The children said, 'Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near, and no harm can come.' 

     And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead, and the children climbed and grew weary, and the mother was weary. But, at all times, she said to the children, 'A little patience and we are there.' 

     So the children climbed, and when they reached the top they said,'Mother, we would not have done it without you.'

     And the mother, when she lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said, 'This day is better than the last, for my children have learned fortitude in the face of hardness. Yesterday, I gave them courage. Today, I've given them strength.' 

     And the next day brought strange clouds which darkened the earth, clouds of war and hate and evil. The children groped and stumbled, and the mother said, 'Look up. Lift your eyes to the light.' 

     And the children looked, and saw above the clouds an everlasting glory, and it guided them beyond the darkness. 
  
     And that night the Mother said, 'This is the best day of all, for I have shown my children God.'"     

     So, shouldn't our ultimate aim as mothers, be just that?

— beulah