Thought for Today
Genesis 3:20 The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
Proverbs 15:20 A wise child makes a glad father, but the foolish despise their mothers.
Mark 3:34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother."
Acts 1:14 All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers.
Alert! Warning! Sunday, May 12, 2024, is Mother’s Day. As a dutiful, diligent Son of the South, I know fully well that Mother’s Day ranks only (slightly) after Christmas and Easter in the litany of important church high, holy days. In my youth, on the graphs of church attendance, there would always be 3 extreme peaks. In our family, church attendance on Sunday was not optional any time. But on Mother’s Day there were no excuses!
We do not live today in the world of the 1950s or 1960s. That world is now history and our world has moved on. However, even today, even were I not a minister, I’m sure that I would be in church next Sunday, just in case. I’m firmly convinced that my own mother is still watching.
Those verses above are only a few of the literally hundreds of references in scripture to mothers and their influences on our lives and the lives of our ancestors-in-the-faith. Eve was called “the mother of all living.” Interestingly, “In human genetics, the Mitochondrial Eve (more technically known as the Mitochondrial-Most Recent Common Ancestor, shortened to mt-Eve or mt-MRCA) is the matrilineal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) of all living humans. In other words, she is defined as the most recent woman from whom all living humans descend in an unbroken line purely through their mothers and through the mothers of those mothers, back until all lines converge on one woman.” (Wikipedia)
So, all those who try to debunk the Bible by referencing the Creation story in Genesis may need to rethink at least a part of their argument. Turns out that the authors of Genesis were ahead of their time in the assertion that Eve was “the mother of all living.” How did they know so long before we mapped the human genome? We do understand the Bible as the inspired Word of God.
Irrespective of one’s understanding on the inerrancy of scripture, Mother’s Day always evokes for me countless fond memories of my own mother. I do know that not everyone has such fond memories and that family dynamics can be and often are complex and even dysfunctional. In part, for that reason and others, I always understand this holiday as Mothers’ Day. By simply moving that small apostrophe to the other side of the ‘s,’ this holiday is transformed into a celebration of motherhood and an acknowledgement that we all have or had mothers. All living entities of more than a single cell were birthed by mothers. That fact alone is worthy of setting aside a special day each year.
For many of us, our mothers were our first teachers. My own mother taught me the days of the week, the names of the colors, my address and telephone number and so much more. As I transitioned into elementary school, Mom patiently drilled me with flash cards until I knew my ‘times tables,’ and called out countless study questions to prepare me for tests. Until the advent of the computer spell-check softwares, I was extremely ‘spelling-challenged.’ Mom patiently drilled me for every weekly spelling test.
I’m sure that repeatedly this week, fond memories will resurface in my mind. I enjoy cooking today because Mom insisted that ‘her boys’ would not be as helpless in the kitchen as was my father. I consider myself a decent cook; however, neither I nor anyone else has been able to replicate Mom’s chocolate chip cookies. I do proudly claim expertise with my favorite of her other cookies.
I pray that you also have fond memories you will recall this week. If, however, that is not the case, you might recall the importance of Jesus’ own mother, Mary. God chose Mary to bear God’s Son. Recall the words of Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, "Luke 1:42 Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” That fact also is worthy of setting aside a special day each year.
Stay safe, pray to God, trust God,
Pastor Ray