The "Women's Lib" movement has led many mothers and home–makers to question their roles. The mother who stays at home wonders if she is a victim of the so–called motherhood cult, which is built on the premise that a mother lives for her children. The mother who works or is active in the church and community may, on the other hand, have a guilty feeling that she is neglecting her children.

There need be no conflict between home and outside activities when a mother's decisions are the result of prayer and her motive is to serve God and mankind to her fullest capacity. Mrs. Eddy tells us, "Home is the dearest spot on earth, and it should be the centre, though not the boundary, of the affections."^{Science and Health, p. 58;}

The mother who is considerably active outside the home might ask herself, "What are my motives for these activities? Does the good in them outweigh possible disadvantages for the home and family? Is my home still the center of my affections? Is my love for my children, my interest in them and concern for their welfare, such that they still regard home as the center of their affections?"

The mother who mostly stays at home might also question her motives. Is overprotectiveness, lethargy, or self–limitation perhaps keeping her from expressing more fully her God–given talents, from sharing Christian Science with others through church activity, from reaching out with love to her neighbors and community? She might ask herself, "Is my home becoming the boundary of my affections? Does my own need for being needed burden me with unnecessary household chores or cause me too often to do for my children what they are capable of doing themselves?"

To answer these questions satisfactorily, we need to find out who we and our children really are. Paul declares, "Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus."^{Gal. 3:26;} Mrs. Eddy says of Jesus, "He recognized Spirit, God, as the only creator, and therefore as the Father of all."^{Science and Health, p. 31;}

What liberation from personal responsibility comes from really seeing God as the Father–Mother of all! As parents, we can actually manifest only the loving care and wise guidance God is bestowing on His children daily. And the mother love that flows through us from God comes from an inexhaustible source. It is never depleted, limited to certain people, or "turned off." It is pure and constant, never overbearing, possessive, or temperamental. We can express it wherever we are—to our children and to the children of others, to our contemporaries and to the elderly—to all "the children of God."

Our children, in turn, can be conscious of God's mother love wherever they may be. Is a child ever too young to begin learning he is always in the care of his Father–Mother God, to whom he can turn for every need? The mother who puts off teaching this daily lesson may well ask herself if she is being truly unselfish.

The mother, for example, who gives up an outing because she can't bear her child's distress at being left in the care of someone else may feel that this is a small sacrifice. A far more meaningful sacrifice might be the giving up of her own personal satisfaction in having another so dependent upon her. Being thus willing to relinquish our children to God's care, turning to Him for guidance, we find He imparts to us each day the strength and wisdom, as well as the tenderness and compassion, to be good parents, church workers, and citizens.

Releasing our children requires often reminding ourselves who our children really are. Whether they are with us or away from us, we cannot too frequently affirm mentally their indestructible relationship with their Father–Mother God. We need to see that their purity is always incorruptible because they are the very image and likeness of Soul, that their stability is unshakable because they are governed by Principle. We need to declare and realize that they are secure and upright because they reflect Truth, that they express integrity, intelligence, and wisdom as reflections of Mind. In reality, they are already complete and mature because they are expressions of infinite Life.

Many years ago, when women had little preparation or opportunity for working outside the home, a young mother was widowed. Overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles, she eventually became a vaudeville star to raise and educate her two daughters. For years she had to be separated from them for long periods.

She was a Christian Scientist. In a book written about those years, one of her daughters says: "We adored our mother, and our hearts were always overflowing with happiness when she could be with us. When she could not, we were still sustained by the comforting sense of her love The greatest thing she gave us was complete confidence in God's love and His unfailing care of us. Her own faith was unwavering, her reliance on divine guidance complete."^{As the Night the Day by Mary Coburn, p. 249 .}

This mother obviously must have turned often to God in prayer for herself and for her children. Her reliance on God, far from lessening her love for her children, blessed both them and her.

"All right," you may say, "I'm learning to release my children from a personal sense of parental responsibility, and we turn together to God to meet all our needs. But as they go off to school, to college, to homes of their own, where does that leave me?"

If you have established your home as "the centre, though not the boundary," of your though and activity, you probably have already been praying daily for your community, country, and world. And you have probably seen the great need for universal mother love today. How important it is to know that this love is already ever present everywhere, for God is ever present! As you mentally embrace the world more, reaching out with the love you reflect from God, He shows you just where and how to express it humanly.

The way may be to do things like taking a pot of soup to a new neighbor or writing a letter to a serviceman. Or your individual unfoldment could lead to taking in foster children. Or to taking up or resuming a useful career—perhaps even that greatest opportunity for expressing love: public practice of Christian Science healing. Your capacity to express love is unlimited. The more you express, the more you will have.

Why wait until the children are grown or your job outside the home is less demanding? The world needs mother love today! Start expanding your sense of real motherhood, and you will truly find liberation.