Mothers Love-  I feel that in the heavens above/The angels, whispering to one another/Can know, among their burning terms of love/None so devotional as that of ‘Mother.’ ~Poe 1893

 Mother’s Day; we call out this day to express our love and to celebrate our mothers. I’ve had the good fortune to steal away from my hectic work schedule to spend a few days with my precious mom. She is 95 years young and has lived a life of loving caregiving.

As with all things in life, our experiences hold colors of both joy and sorrow. The sweet anticipation of being together coupled with the realization that our time is fleeting. Tender memories of nurturance intertwined with life’s poignant hurts and disappointments. I think of the many ways my own mother has been present throughout my life as caregiver, encourager, giver of generous affirmations, able to see something beautiful within me that I myself could not see…and my heart swells in gratitude.

 Bitter- sweet emotions arise as I reflect on friends whose mothers have died. They will share cherished memories of their moms and  pass on stories in guffaws of laughter and the taste of salty tears.

  
I will remember Helen Wessel, whose Easter  lilies faithfully bloom each spring in a glorious message of resurrection. I will pray for mother’s who are ill or may be in their final stage of life. My thoughts will be with Candi, who is becoming increasingly forgetful. I will celebrate the loving bond between a mother and daughter. A love so strong that Sue is planning to take an extended leave of absence from work to care for her. So passionate her recognition, “No one could take care of my mom better than me!”

 I will celebrate the courageous women who may not have physically birthed children but have imprinted their hearts on ours and who have touched our lives with their extraordinary gifts of Love and nurturance. The keepers of wonder; great women who have taught us to befriend our secret longings and to reach for our unspoken dreams.

 I will honor the men in life who are both mother-father, sons and friends. The caregivers of wonder, who provide sustenance for their mothers, wives and children. Men who unceasingly show up for us and through their caring gestures ease the burdens of our mundane routines and daily responsibilities. Lovers who stir within us their passion to paint beauty and encourage us to see with our hearts.

My prayers will be with moms who are ill. And my heart will ache a little as I think of and pray for those who have never received a mother’s nurturing love.

Aramaic version of the Lord's Prayer

O Birther! Mother-Father of the Cosmos, focus your light within us—make it useful. Create your reign of unity now; Your one desire acts with ours, as in all light, so in all forms. Grant what we need each day in bread and insight. Loose the cords of mistakes binding us, as we release the strand we hold of others’ guilt. Don’t let surface things delude us, but free us from what holds us back. From you is born all ruling will, the power and the life to do, the song that beautifies all; from age to age it renews. Amen.

Wishing you overflowing blessings this Mother's Day,  flowering in moments of caring gestures.

~liz Sorensen Wessel

Note: Watercolors by ~liz