PARENTING May 15, 2006 Issue

A NEVER-ENDING SUPPLY OF MOTHER-LOVE

JUDITH HARDY OLSON

For some , such as those who are estranged from their mom or who've recently lost a mother, Mother's Day might seem a hard time. Hurtful even. But, I've learned, it can be a time to grow in understanding that you can never be without that mother-love. Nor can your mother, for that matter. God's mothering is constant, consistent, and continuous.

My mom passed on shortly before I graduated from high school. I'll never forget her last words to me: "God is your Father-Mother." I did my best to remember her emphasis on Mother. Two things from her memorial service stayed with me and helped get me off to a good start. The first was a Bible verse: "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I [God] comfort you" (Isa. 66:13). And the second was a hymn, which begins, "O Love, our Mother, ever near" (Margaret Matters, Christian Science Hymnal, No. 232). And I did feel God's comforting love—in the kindness of neighbors, teachers, friends, family.

That next year, a lot happened—all the end-of-high-school stuff, the beginning-of-college stuff, and, in between, working and preparing for a new chapter in my life. There were many times when I would have naturally turned to my mom.

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