The Importance Of Mother's Day

Today is Mother’s Day. It is celebrated annually around the world to honour mothers for their important and lasting contribution to society especially in the upbringing of the next generation. Mother’s Day was established by Anna M Jarvis who held a small service in Andrew’s Methodist Episcopal Church in West Virginia on 12 May 1907 where her mother had been teaching Sunday School. However, the first ‘official’ service was held on 10 May 1908 in the same church. Mother’s Day was then recognised by the state of West Virginia in 1910 and on 8 May 1914, the US Congress passed a law designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Mothers have always played a central role in the Bible. For instance, Jochebed weaned and taught

This is where we know that people are difficult, that they may not ‘deserve’ it and that they do not have any means to reciprocate our help. However, we are still able to show them compassion because we are driven by a mission, a calling or a purpose which enables us to overlook many of their failings and shortcomings. Social and community workers and volunteers with civic and welfare organisations would fall into this category. This sense of mission is what compels them to visit and bring food and other essentials regularly to the destitute and irascible and broken families. Yet even here, our compassion is not unlimited for unlike God, all of us have a breaking point. There are only so many times we can be ignored, rejected or verbally abused before we decide to leave that person or family and spend our time and effort instead on those who want to be helped. A compassion that is driven by mission alone will not be able to cope with continual

Maternal compassion is based on a relationship and is the only type which can withstand continual rejection. It is hard to think of a person who gives less back than a young child. Screaming in the middle of the night, throwing tantrums in public, making a mess everywhere, refusing to obey simple instructions, fighting with other children and siblings, completely self-centred and all this without so much as a simple thank you to the mother. Yet there is a relationship or bond between the two of them which enables a mother to show compassion to the child. Mothers of children, even more so of teenagers, face continual rejection, verbal abuse and anger from their children, but they still remain compassionate. Just look at the lengths mothers go to protect their children or wait overnight to secure them a place in a good school or react when their children are bullied or