Mothers

I have often though that Mary, mother of our Lord, must have been a very unique human being. From the moment that she was visited by a heavenly host with the most improbable of news, she set her face forward to a future that was sure to be chaotic. And it was. In the sporadic stories of her oldest child's childhood it is clear he was difficult. I wonder if he and his cousin John got into trouble together. The prophet and the savior playing tag or hanging out with kids from the wrong side of town.

Pastor Berg and his mom, Nansy

It is easy to layer my childhood memories onto Jesus and John, thinking about how their mom's parented them. I was the fourth of five boys. My mother, I am sure, attained sainthood just by getting us all to adulthood. My memories are often of her baking bread or boiling potatoes, ironing every cloth article that went through the wash, and driving us to every activity. Can we call this "love in action?" 

Mary cooked and cleaned, made sure Jesus and his siblings had clean clothes and made it to their Hebrew classes. My imagination tells me she was not that much different then our moms. 

The difference I think is what we are told about her. She was visited by Gabriel. She was told that she was with child and the child will be great. She pushed back, but, in the end she said, "Here I am." She also knew what this all meant. She knew that her child would turn the entire world upside down. She sang, "He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and sent the rich away empty." She knew that this first child of hers might not be long in this world.

And yet.

She still had to yell at him, as my mom did once when I wondered off at the mall. She said "Child, why have you given us this fright! Why did you not come with us? We were scared to death!"

Love in action. I like to think that Mary was no different than our moms. And like all moms, she treasured all these memories in her heart.

I know that motherhood is a complicated endeavor - and we all often have difficult relationships with those who parented us. I also know that we all do the best we can with what is given to us. My mother was not easy and often caused more problems than my brothers and I needed to deal with in our childhoods, but she still showed her love through her actions. I still have not tasted better bread and I have never ironed underwear since I left home. 

I like this quote from the TV show "Resident Alien":

Babies do not care what anyone feels. They only want to be taken care of, to be loved, and to know there is someone out there who will find a way to protect them, no matter what it takes.

It goes along with Mary's son's admonition from John 13:  

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.