Mothers Day Sermon, 2014

by Charles Firecat Burnell

So today is Mothers Day. Happy Mothers Day to all of the moms out there. Regardless of how old or
young your children may be.
Its a funny day. Its not a religious holiday. Its preprinted on most calendars.
I was ind of curious what the history was behind the day being on our calendars. So I looed it up
online. I found this on Mothersdaycelebration.com !
History of Mother's Day: Julia Ward Howe
"he idea of official celebration of Mothers day in #S was first suggested by $ulia %ard Howe in &'().
*n acti+ist, writer and poet $ulia shot to fame with her famous Ci+il %ar song, -Battle Hymn of the
Republic-. $ulia %ard Howe suggested that $une ) be annually celebrated as Mothers Day and should
be dedicated to peace. She wrote a passionate appeal to women and urged them to rise against war in
her famous Mothers Day .roclamation, written in Boston in &'(/. She also initiated a Mothers0 .eace
Day obser+ance on the second Sunday in $une in Boston and held the meeting for a number of years.
$ulia tirelessly championed the cause of official celebration of Mothers Day and declaration of official
holiday on the day. Her idea spread but was later replaced by the Mothers0 Day holiday now celebrated
in May.
History of Mother's Day: Anna Jarvis
*nna $ar+is is recogni1ed as the Founder of Mothers Day in #S. "hough *nna $ar+is ne+er married
and ne+er had ids, she is also nown as the Mother of Mothers Day, an apt title for the lady who
wored hard to bestow honor on all mothers.
*nna $ar+is got the inspiration of celebrating Mothers Day from her own mother Mrs *nna Marie
Ree+es $ar+is in her childhood. *n acti+ist and social worer, Mrs $ar+is used to e2press her desire that
someday someone must honor all mothers, li+ing and dead, and pay tribute to the contributions made
by them.
* lo+ing daughter, *nna ne+er forgot her mothers word and when her mother died in &3/4, she
resol+ed to fulfill her mothers desire of ha+ing a mothers day. 5rowing negligent attitude of adult
*mericans towards their mothers and a desire to honor her mothers soared her ambitions.
"o begin with, *nna sent Carnations in the church ser+ice in 5rafton, %est 6irginia to honor her
mother. Carnations were her mothers fa+orite flower and *nna felt that they symboli1ed a mothers pure
lo+e. 7ater *nna along with her supporters wrote letters to people in positions of power lobbying for
the official declaration of a Mothers Day holiday. "he hard wor paid off. By &3&&, Mother0s Day was
celebrated in almost e+ery state in the #nion and on May ', &3&8 .resident %oodrow %ilson signed a
$oint Resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother0s Day.
History of Mother's Day: resent Day !ele"rations
"oday Mothers Day is celebrated in se+eral countries including #S, #9, India, Denmar, Finland,
Italy, "urey, *ustralia, Me2ico, Canada, China, $apan and Belgium. .eople tae the day as an
opportunity to pay tribute to their mothers and than them for all their lo+e and support. "he day has
become hugely popular and in se+eral countries phone lines witness ma2imum traffic. "here is also a
tradition of gi+ing flowers, cards and others gift to mothers on the Mothers Day.
"he festi+al has become commerciali1ed to a great e2tent. Florists, card manufacturers and gift sellers
see huge business potential in the day and mae good money through a rigorous ad+ertising campaign.
"he writer of this blog goes on to say
It is unfortunate to note that Ms Anna Jarvis, who devoted her life for the declaration of Mothers Day
holiday was deeply hurt to note the huge commercialization of the day.
Mothers Day is ind of a tricy day for me. I ha+e a couple of different issues that mae the day
challenging for me. So I :umped at the opportunity to spea today. I ha+e found that when I am feeling
at my worst on Sundays, if I can drag myself here. It helps me. Being here with you all really helps me.
;+en if I cry through the entire ser+ice, I am smiling by the time I am going home. It is purging,
supporti+e, and nourishing all in one.
Mothers Day is challenging first and foremost because my mother passed away in 33 and the hallmar
reminder tugs at my heart strings a little. Reminding me that she is no longer around to hug, or sit and
chat o+er a cup of tea with her.
In re+erence to her, I would lie to share with you a piece that she wrote. In fact it was meant to be a
lullaby, to be sung to a child. She wrote it long after I was at the age of lullabies. Still when I sing it, I
can en+ision her cradling me, because it communicates the bond between child and mother so well to
me.
I don0t now that I am bra+e enough to attempt to sing for y0all so I will :ust read it.
F*" B*BI;S
<h I am a fat baby, fat baby am I
"o sit on my mama0s nee is better than pie
=ou may thin that I0m lucy
%ell then so do I
For no one gets Mama0s nee >uicer than I
Sometimes she is grumpy
Sometimes so am I
But always she lo+es me
*t least always she tries
She would bathe me in rainbows
%ith stardust to dry
*nd I now it to be so
For its there in her eyes
If you ha+e a fat baby with tears in their eyes
5i+e them hugs lie warm bree1es
*nd isses that shine
*nd remember to giggle
*nd sometimes to cry
7et them be truly human
*nd you0ll gi+e them the sy
She told me stories about when I was little. Some match up with memories I ha+e, and some do not.
She taught me not to let go of the child inside. %e all need to remain a little childlie in some way or
another, or we lose the ability to see the wonder in the world. I still feel lie a child sometimes. %hen I
crea and ache in the morning, when I can0t eep up with tass the way I did &4 years ago, it startles
me, because I don0t feel old in my brain. I still feel lie a id. 7ie no time has passed. I am still
ama1ed, *S"<?ISH;D, by lifes Miracles.
* story that I will ne+er forget. She said I was a toddler. I was :ust learning to tal and didn0t now +ery
many words yet. It was Christmas time. I had been napping, and my father had brought home a
Christmas tree, and put it up in the li+ing room. %hen I awoe from my nap I was *stonished,
theres that word again,
to see a tree growing ri#ht there in the li+ing room. It was an ama1ing disco+ery. $ had found it and $
had to show my mother. *ll I could say was Tree Momma Tree@ "ugging at her and pointing at the
beautiful miracle in our li+ing room. *nd she wept.
She taught me that we are all children, and as we grow, we can learn from the children around us.
Sometimes adults are the teachers and children are the students. Sometimes children are the teachers,
and adults are the students. %e all learn when we participate in the process of growing together. %e all
need reassurance sometimes, and ha+ing a day lie Mothers Day is a nice way to remember to pay
honor to the people who mae life possible for all of us.
Children are scientists, always searching for information, for stimulus. Disco+ering about the world
around them, and how they fit in it. "hat mar+el and awe is something that can die far too >uicly if we
do not nurture and encourage our children to continue e2ploring and learning. *s parents we tae it
upon oursel+es to introduce our children to the world around them. *nd we try to prepare them for
some of lifes challenges. How to wash our own clothes, how to feed oursel+es, how to budget and sa+e
for the future, how to tie our own shoes...
Sometimes we get so caught up in the AworB in+ol+ed in being a parent that we need our children to
tug on our shirt tails sometimes and say A"ree Momma "reeB .
*nd perhaps we need a day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, 5randparents Day, to remind us to honor those
around us who ha+e dedicated themsel+es to the noble and e2hausting tas of raising children. <r more
accurately, raising adults. Because thats really what we are doing. "eaching young how to be adults...
%hat ind of adults do we want to be surrounded by in 4, &/, &4, )/ yearsC %hat we do today can
affect us for years to come. Because e+erything is connected, in this great web of the uni+erse.
But being a parent isn0t :ust one day a year. Its e+ery day. ;+ery day I am thanful to my mother for
gi+ing birth to me. For dedicating so much of her life0s energy to the consideration and well being of,
well, Me. %ithout her labors, I would not ha+e the opportunity to en:oy the miracles of life, to be that
child who appreciates the magic in a Christmas "ree, or to be woen up by my son at D o0cloc in the
morning, :ust so he can show me the most beautiful sunrise...
%e do nice things for our mothers, our wi+es, our partners or friends who ha+e children. *s my mother
was a practicing witch, I was well +ersed in the importance of recogni1ing and appreciating the fertile
goddess as a symbol of spring. *lthough labor was not what my mother would ha+e wanted it to be
when I was born, in a military hospital in the se+enties. they were not +ery gentle with military wi+es.
She described the e+ent to be traumati1ing.
By the time my younger brother was born fifteen years had passed, and she was able to attempt to ha+e
the birthing she wanted. She had a circle of her closest friends around her, and a good midwife. *nd
she was in her own home in the redwoods. "here were complications that re>uired we rush to the
hospital in the middle of the night. Suffi%e to say, I am not sure they had e+er encountered a co+en of
witches in the middle of a late term birthing ritual. It was e2hilarating to say the least. She almost died.
My brother almost died. *nd when my mother did pass away, my brother was only 3. I ha+e been a
parent to him e+er since.
Mothers Day is challenging for me also because of my history as a parent. I ha+e been a single parent
off and on now for almost twenty years. I ha+e been Mother and I ha+e been Father. ;+en when I was
partnered, I maintained the ma:ority of responsibility, and played both roles. I ha+e been the one to feed
and care for infants in the night. I ha+e been the one to tae them to school, wored all day, piced
them up from school, helped them with their homewor, taen care of the house, the food, the bills, the
e+erything.
$ust lie a single parentE despite the fact that may ha+e been romantically in+ol+ed at any gi+en time.
*nd with a little massaging, gender bending, throwing out of hate culture programming and a whole
lot of friends around me, I ha+e managed to get through it o. I ne+er now whether to celebrate
Mothers Day or Fathers Day or both or neither. ;+ery day I am a parent. ;+ery day can be :oyous. ?ot
all of them are. But on any day I can bring :oy right bac into my heart by focusing on the lo+e that I
ha+e for my wonderful children.
I am thanful for all the blessings that I am gifted with as I e2perience the :ourney of parenting. I am
thanful for all the close friendships that ha+e wo+en in and out of my life o+er the last two decades.
So many wonderful parents that ha+e been conscious and positi+e in the li+es of my children. "hey all
ha+e had an effect. My children ha+e had the opportunity to now community. "o e2perience different
perspecti+es, to learn to understand and appreciate the social e2perience of sharing and e2changing,
time, energy, thought, and emotion. Di+ersity opens doors to an e+en broader scope of miracles and
:oys in the life e2perience.
5uidelines for family +alues are wo+en into the parameters of se+eral +ersions of :udeoEchristianity
which ha+e had a great impact on the social e2pectations in our *merican culture. <r so it seems. I will
only barely mention it as a reference point. I can not and will not pretend to be an e2pert in such things.
I was raised by a witch. I ha+e not read the bible in its entirety. I mention this only because when we
are aware of the influences that ha+e shaped our programming thus far, it becomes easier to brea it
down and redefine the parameters in which we conduct our li+es.
I recogni1e that our culture has a serious hang up with se2uality. I now that, as I parent, I ha+e tried,
and continue to try, to let my children e2plore their identity in as healthy and supporti+e a manner as I
can. %ithout :udgment. I now that we are li+ing in a culture that is trying to reco+er from a patriarchal
programming that places a +alue on women, and treats them lie property not people. Humans
sometimes change slowly, but we ha+e made some progress in the last &// years.
I was taught by My Mother, that the earth is our mother. %e come from her, we go to her. %e need to
respect her. Speaing in Metaphors, is the Sun then our father, and the stars are... which relati+esC My
mother did not appreciate when I began to transcend the teachings of my youth and began truly
e2ploring the uni+erse in myself. I was not able to communicate what was happening, or what I was
looing for. I new that all the deities that she had taught me all seemed lie different faces of the same
big thing. It seemed to me that e+erything was di+ine, each part of an integral whole. $ tried to tell her
that $ was learnin# "e%ause $ was e&%ited a"out my dis%overy and $ wanted to share it with her'
7ie the tree in the li+ing room, I wanted her to now my feelings. I wanted to share with my mother.
"his time she wept, because she could not see the :oy. She only saw the separation from the system of
beliefs that she had raised me with. She thought I was abandoning her. *nd I wept o+er the loss too.
Sometimes changing our programming is challenging to our current family ties.
Don0t get me wrong. I appreciate the ;arth. I acnowledge that this is the part of the uni+erse in which I
e2ist. It is beautiful. I am thanful and I try not to litter. *lthough it is highly incon+enient not to ha+e a
car in this society, I often wish they would all disappear and we could go bac to horse drawn wagons.
"he pollution alone from cars is enough to mae me wish them away. ?ot to mention the wars o+er
crude oil. $ust teleport me bac about )// years.
%hen I am in pain and I swear lie my mother. It wasn0t on purpose, its something that has de+eloped
o+er time. Many of us swear or curse in one way or another. %ith me, <ften it pops out as A5oddess
.lease Be 9ind to MeB, or A5od MoneyB. I ha+e been teased for not swearing properly. I don0t really
now what thats about. Regardless, the e2amples that she set for me ha+e had a hea+y impact on how I
li+e my daily life. *s ha+e my fathers influences. ;ach of their beha+iors come out in little ways. "hey
each tried to prepare me, in their own ways, for the world ahead of me, and so I ha+e tried to do the
same for my children.
Remember that as a community, we all ha+e an impact on the children around us. %hether we ha+e
birthed children from our loins or simply help a friends0 child tie their shoe sometimes, we still ha+e an
impact on the children we interact with. Children get more than enough anger and hate from other
sources. %e can try to help them to learn how to be compassionate and strong in the face of this
ad+ersity. "hese children will be adults soon and will ha+e an e+en greater impact on our world, and
again they will impact children to come. *nd so they cycle continues.
My mother taught me, .arent to child to parent to childE it is a wheel. It :ust eeps spinning, we can
simply eep repeating the same patterns o+er and o+er, or we can be conscious. %e can stop the wheel
of arma. %ith our consciousness, we can create new patterns, healthier patterns, more lo+ing patterns,
for the children of our future.
%e all ha+e the capacity to be parents. *unts and #ncles and e2tended family are not gi+en enough
credit, where it is due. It is important to remember that children are growing and de+eloping. *ny and
all input they recei+e has an affect on them, at some point. If its a really good lesson, we hope it maes
a difference when they really need it.
Its important to eep patience and compassion in our hearts when dealing with children. %hether they
are our own or someone else0s. %hether you are young or old or anywhere in between. %hether you
ha+e children of your own or not. %e ha+e all been children. Sharing lo+e when dealing with children,
teaches them compassion and gi+es them strength. 7ie sunlight and spring rain watering the garden,
the flowers will blossom and so will the children of our community.
I eep this thought in the forefront of my actions when I interact with children. I try to anyway.
Despite the amount of wor in+ol+ed, being a parent is a labor of lo+e. %e all ha+e the capacity to be
role models for children in one way or another. *nd so the circle of life continues.
I thin it is definitely worth celebrating. *nd today we get double the celebrating because we ha+e the
mar+elous .ot 7uc awaiting us after I stop taling@ So maybe I should do that.
Blessings to all the mothers and all the children and e+eryone who has been one or the other or both@