May God Bless Mothers

Sometimes, I admit, I get to feeling a little jaded, a little cynical, about my species. It seems we, human beings, are capable of the lowest forms of debauchery and the vilest forms of evil against one another. If an alien species were to listen only to our news broadcasts they would probably steer clear of this little blue planet all together. It can be very disheartening if that’s all one sees. But, if one takes the time to look there is also beauty in our species; there is a nobility in human beings that can’t be denied. Often, it’s only as far away as the person next to us.

I recently made a new friend. I met a young mother in a sculpting class that single handedly has restored some feeling in me for the human race. She has two small children and when she speaks about them her eyes light up and a smile almost involuntarily crosses her face. She begins to glow. Listening to her, it’s hard not to hear the love that she can’t contain. Her heart is completely open because of the love of her husband and those two little human beings God has entrusted to her care.

I recently told her the story of another friend and how he lost his little girl when she was only an infant. Her eyes began to well up with tears. I found myself being touched by her open heart. That simple thing was evidence of the hope for all humanity to me. If we are capable of that feeling, that empathy, then there is something worth preserving in us. This new mother became an ambassador for all that’s good in us. For just a moment I saw us the way God sees us.

Most of us love our mothers. Even the most hardened criminals have a soft spot in their hearts for the woman that gave them birth and their first glimpse of love. If we can hang on to those first lessons of love we learned, those from our mothers, they can strengthen us against the hardships ahead of us in life. Other things in life can harden us and twist our views of the world, but having a mother like this one…that’s a blessing, one that can see us through some very dark times.

I have no doubt that God has specially blessed the children of my young friend. What they will learn from their mother will give them a strength of spirit that will last them for a lifetime. Her light will shine on all those around her…like it has on me. And, that light will shine on through her children. I only hope that something of the light that shines through my mother shines on through me.

Therein lays the seed of hope for humanity.

May God bless all mothers…