With this Sunday being Mother’s Day, how could I not choose to laud the one who is arguably the most inspirational person in each of our lives? Mothers are those who never quite leave their children alone, even after they are gone; even after they are gone. My mother bodily passed away in October 2007, but her spirit is alive, well, and remains lovingly and eternally in my heart.
The great American author, Washington Irving beautifully and accurately described mothers as “the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”
There is a lovely story written by Hugh T. Kerr about a mother’s love, wisdom and generosity that especially resonates with me. I can certainly identify with the son in the story, for I was often too absorbed with myself to appreciate that my mom was the bank where I deposited all of my hurts and worries and could withdraw without penalty and with an abundance of interest, endless amounts of love.
There was once a boy named Bradley. When he was about eight years old, he fell into the habit of thinking of everything in terms of money. He wanted to know the price of everything he saw, and if it didn’t cost a great deal, it did not seem to him to be worth anything at all.
But there are a great many things money cannot buy. And some are the best things in the world.
One morning when Bradley came down to breakfast, he put a little piece of paper, neatly folded, on his mother’s plate. His mother opened it, and she could hardly believe what her son had written:
Mother owes Bradley:
For running errands 3 dollars
For taking out the trash 2 dollars
For sweeping the floor 2 dollars
Extras 1 dollar
Total that Mother owes Bradley 8 dollars
His mother smiled when she finished reading the note, but she did not say anything in reply.
When lunchtime came she put the bill on Bradley’s plate along with eight dollars. Bradley’s eyes lit up when he saw the money. He stuffed it into his pocket as fast as he could and started dreaming about what he could buy with his “earnings.”
Then he noticed that there was another piece of paper neatly folded beside his plate. When he opened it up, he saw that it was a bill from his mother. It read:
Bradley owes Mother:
For being good to him nothing
For nursing him through his chicken pox nothing
For shirts, and shoes and toys nothing
For his meals and beautiful room nothing
Total that Bradley owes mother nothing
Bradley sat looking at this new bill, without saying a word. After a few minutes he got up, pulled the eight dollars out of his pocket, and place them in his mother’s hand. From that moment on, he gladly and generously helped his mother for love.
It has been said throughout the ages in sonnets, poems, songs, and verse, that so many beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds. Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, comrades and friends, but for each of us, there is only one mother in the whole world, and the cost we pay for such a treasure – nothing!
She has raised children, practiced hospitality, washed the feet of the holy ones, helped those in distress, involved herself in every good work. – 1 Timothy, 6:10
Have an AWE-full Mother’s Day weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque