Mother's Day: Poetry & Prayers

"As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you." Isaiah 66:13

 “Blessing the Mothers” by Jan Richardson

 Who are our

first sanctuary.

Who fashion

a space of blessing

with their own being:

with the belly

the bone and

the blood

or,

if not with these,

then with the

durable heart

that offers itself

to break

and grow wide,

to gather itself

around another

as refuge,

as home.

Who lean into

the wonder and terror

of loving what

they can hold

but cannot contain.

Who remain

in some part of themselves

always awake,

a corner of consciousness

keeping perpetual vigil.

Who know

that the story

is what endures

is what binds us

is what runs deeper

even than blood

and so they spin them

in celebration

of what abides

and benediction

on what remains:

a simple gladness

that latches onto us

and graces us

on our way.

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“A Prayer for All Women on Mother’s Day”  by Amy Young

 I want you to know I’m praying for you if you are like Tamar, struggling with infertility, or a miscarriage.

 I want you to know that I’m praying for you if you are like Rachel, counting the women among your family and friends who year by year and month by month get pregnant, while you wait.

 I want you to know I’m praying for you if you are like Naomi, and have known the bitter sting of a child’s death.

 I want you to know I am praying for you if you are like Joseph and Benjamin, and your Mom has died.

 I want you to know that I am praying for you if your relationship with your Mom was marked by trauma, abuse, or abandonment, or she just couldn’t parent you the way you needed.

 I want you to know I am praying for you if you’ve been like Moses’ mother and put a child up for adoption, trusting another family to love your child into adulthood.

 I want you to know I am praying for you if you’ve been like Pharaoh’s daughter, called to love children who are not yours by birth (and thus the mother who brought that child into your life, even if it is complicated).

 I want you to know I am praying for you if you, like many, are watching (or have watched) your mother age, and disappear into the long goodbye of dementia.

 I want you to know that I am praying for you if you, like Mary, are pregnant for the very first time and waiting breathlessly for the miracle of your first child.

 I want you to know that I am praying for you if your children have turned away from you, painfully closing the door on relationship, leaving you holding your broken heart in your hands. And like Hagar, now you are mothering alone.

 I want you to know that I am praying for you if motherhood is your greatest joy and toughest struggle all rolled into one.

 I want you to know that I am praying for you if you are watching your child battle substance abuse, a public legal situation, mental illness, or another situation which you can merely watch unfold.

 I want you to know that I am praying for you if you like so many women before you do not wish to be a mother, are not married, or in so many other ways do not fit into societal norms.

 I want you to know that I am praying for you if you see yourself reflected in all, or none of these stories.

 This mother’s day, wherever and whoever you are, we walk with you. You are loved. You are seen. You are worthy.

 And may you know the deep love without end of our big, wild, beautiful God who is the very best example of a parent that we know.

 Amen.