Article May 31, 2004 Issue

MOTHER-LOVE in unexpected places

By Tony Lobl

There Was a true account, touchingly reported in the newspapers here in England, of a lioness who, instead of taking a frail antelope calf back to her den as dinner, adopted it as a "cub." When her adopted child did end up on another lion's menu after some days, the grieving "mother" found another antelope calf to nurture.

Clearly motherhood is a universal trait that crosses all kinds of social, cultural, and, as in this case, even species lines. Holidays honoring mothers (and fathers) celebrate this fundamental instinct and afford the opportunity to hail its spiritual source in the motherly qualities of God. Anyone—parent or not, male or female—who expresses the unselfish, nurturing qualities of a good mother reflects the nature of that divine source.

I have certainly been grateful for all the mother-love in my life. From my own mum, of course, who cherished, nurtured, and encouraged me for over two decades, even though, as my dad once put it, "You didn't come with an instruction manual!"

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