Sunday Musings – May 13, 2018
In the United States, today is a day designated to honor the role of mothers. There have been celebrations to honor mothers since the early Greeks held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. Later there was a Christian festival known as mothering Sunday. In the United States the origins of the current celebration can be mainly traced to the actions of two women, Ann Reeves Jarvis and Julia Ward Howe. Ms. Jarvis helped started
Mother’s Day Work Clubs” in West Virginia to teach local woman how to properly care for their children. In 1868 Ms. Jarvis “organized ‘Mother’ Friendship Day, ‘at which others gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation. In 1870 Julia Ward Howe “campaigned for a “Mother’s Peace Day” to be celebrated on June 2.” Still others including the temperance activist Juliet Blakely and later Mary Sateen and Frank Hering worked to organize a Mothers’ Day.” (history.com)
Many will claim that Mother’s Day in the United States is largely a commercial celebration designed to enrich the bank accounts of companies which sell greeting cards and other for-profit items. Personally, I think that any excuse to honor those charged the nurturing and teaching of children is well worth our time. Although it is always going to be the women who do the tough work of carrying and caring for the baby during that initial nine-month period and who experience the painful birth process, the role of active day-to-day nurturer, once a child is born, is often assumed by grandparents, fathers, aunts, uncles and various other members of the community.
It is true that we associate the job of nurturing children often or primarily with women. It is also true that we in this and many other cultures align this role with the justification for sexist, patriarchal rules which in truth are designed primarily to booster the rather fragile egos of we males and to hold on to all forms of power.
I suspect that the best way we could honor mothers in this and other cultures is to “walk the talk”. This would entail some very basic commitments including the commitment to:
I am sure that many will think of other commitments that we need to make if we are truly going to honor the role of mother/nurturer in our society. It is, I believe, time to go beyond our commitment to insure the profit of Hallmark and those who cultivate and sell flowers.
Written May 13, 2018
In the United States, today is a day designated to honor the role of mothers. There have been celebrations to honor mothers since the early Greeks held festivals in honor of the mother goddesses Rhea and Cybele. Later there was a Christian festival known as mothering Sunday. In the United States the origins of the current celebration can be mainly traced to the actions of two women, Ann Reeves Jarvis and Julia Ward Howe. Ms. Jarvis helped started
Mother’s Day Work Clubs” in West Virginia to teach local woman how to properly care for their children. In 1868 Ms. Jarvis “organized ‘Mother’ Friendship Day, ‘at which others gathered with former Union and Confederate soldiers to promote reconciliation. In 1870 Julia Ward Howe “campaigned for a “Mother’s Peace Day” to be celebrated on June 2.” Still others including the temperance activist Juliet Blakely and later Mary Sateen and Frank Hering worked to organize a Mothers’ Day.” (history.com)
Many will claim that Mother’s Day in the United States is largely a commercial celebration designed to enrich the bank accounts of companies which sell greeting cards and other for-profit items. Personally, I think that any excuse to honor those charged the nurturing and teaching of children is well worth our time. Although it is always going to be the women who do the tough work of carrying and caring for the baby during that initial nine-month period and who experience the painful birth process, the role of active day-to-day nurturer, once a child is born, is often assumed by grandparents, fathers, aunts, uncles and various other members of the community.
It is true that we associate the job of nurturing children often or primarily with women. It is also true that we in this and many other cultures align this role with the justification for sexist, patriarchal rules which in truth are designed primarily to booster the rather fragile egos of we males and to hold on to all forms of power.
I suspect that the best way we could honor mothers in this and other cultures is to “walk the talk”. This would entail some very basic commitments including the commitment to:
- Insure access to quality health care for all people of all ages.
- Insure free, quality day care centers for all children regardless of the income of parents.
- Insure quality education for all children.
- Insure that there is paid maternity and paternity leave for all parents or those fulfilling the role of parents.
- Insure that there is quality housing for all.
- Insure that there is affordable lead or other contaminant free water and food products available for everyone.
- Insure that we make our chief weapon diplomacy and not guns or the threat of violence.
- Insure that we pay child care workers and teachers wages which allow them to live decently.
- Insure that we are committed creating a society which treats addiction as a serious, treatable illness.
I am sure that many will think of other commitments that we need to make if we are truly going to honor the role of mother/nurturer in our society. It is, I believe, time to go beyond our commitment to insure the profit of Hallmark and those who cultivate and sell flowers.
Written May 13, 2018
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