Mother's Day

Mother’s Day

The sky parted, and God made His face to be seen by all

And Mankind, being Mankind, rushed to God and called to Him

Asking for his favor, his recognition of their worth in His eyes

They thronged, built golden platforms to stand closer to Him

Mistaking proximity by inches for precious value and status

In the new Light of revealed truth, in the new Day of God’s arrival

And as they did, a woman scurried about their shining pedestals

Helping each to rise, tending to each, feeding each in their turn

She doted on the young, her eyes not on God but on His children

Building not towers but filling their small hearts with her great love

Fiercely protecting them from the swirling chaos of Mankind’s

Rush to curry God’s acknowledgement of their individual worth

The first to come were those of Cloth, bearing ledgers of their flocks

Bearing tales of their fealty and sacrifice, of eloquence and grace

And God listened and watched, and gently corrected their aim

Without condemnation, without judgment or separation from their peers

And each stepped down, convinced of His approval, of their position

But blind to what He had shown, and deaf to what he had shared

Next came the powerful, whose platforms were built by others

They offered their great acts, their mighty towers, their magnificent art

Transferring title and deed to the Almighty as tribute to His name

And God listened and watched, gave each their moment in His eyes

Teaching each why they fell short without condemning them for their efforts

For they were His children, and He cared even as they so greatly erred

But each, having less than succeeded in their own eyes, slumped,

Stepping down from their boxes and returned to the surging crowd

To the bosom of the woman, to the care of the woman, to their own

A tableau repeated endlessly as Mankind clamored, and the woman 

Healed and hugged, listened and cradled, touched and loved

Always with her eyes level and heart open to the least and smallest

One of the Cloth came to the woman, and chastised her loudly

“Why are your eyes not fixed on the revealed God” he challenged

“He is bright as the sun, filling the sky above with His greatness!”

She calmly responded “He has always been there, and everywhere

When I look to his children, He is in their eyes and their hands, 

He is in my heart so that I can share with theirs. I see him always.”

And a great builder came to her, and asked “Where is your tower?

What have you built to honor Him now that He has appeared to us?

Don’t you want to be closer to Him?” And the woman replied

“I held Him just moments ago, and gave Him milk to drink 

And a warm blanket to swaddle Him as He napped. 

I cannot be any closer to Him than to have Him in my arms.”

And suddenly the earth below the woman’s feet began to rise

Lifting her above the crowd, into the sky towards His countenance

And He spoke to the multitudes in a voice of kindness and love,

“This woman is Mother to my children, caretaker to my own,

She knows my heart, and I am in hers always and forever

I honor her as she has always honored me through her life.”

The woman bowed, looked up and asked “May I go back now?

My own may be cold or hungry, and confused by the crowds.”

God smiled, and said “Do you not seek Heaven, my heart?”

She smiled back, and said “I have Heaven, and know it always

In the eyes of my children, in reaching hands and growing wisdom, 

In their challenges and in their victories.. I have Heaven enough.”

With that, the clouds came back together, and the earth returned

The crowds dispersed, and the towers were taken apart for scrap

The men and women of Cloth debated and distorted what they had heard 

The powerful convinced themselves that they were “mothers” of a sort

And nothing really changed, nothing was different… especially for those 

Who had already known the sacred bond of God and mother firsthand.