Mothers
I was asked to speak in Church on Sunday. The topic: Mothers.
I really hate being given that topic, especially on Mother's Day. The reason behind that is simple, really: there are three kinds of Mother's Day talks, and only three; and after being in the Church for as long as I have, one has pretty much heard every variation of the themes. They are as follows:
1. My mom is the greatest mom, ever. Blatantly false. My mom is the greatest mom, ever.
2. The mothers of the "Sons of Helaman" were amazing women. Very true. Completely indisputable. But, there are a limited number of scriptural references to said women, and only so many different ways they can be read.
3. Someday when you (and possibly I, depending on the gender of the speaker) are blessed enough to be a mother...Thus effectively leaving half the congregation to pick their fingernails, and annoying those women who don't plan on being mothers, for whatever reason.
Given those choices I knew mine had to be different. So, I decided to make a list of every mother mentioned in the Scriptures. I stopped right around Naomi (yeah, I didn't get very far). Why did I stop? I suddenly had a better idea: I would talk about the three mothers who have affected us all.
So, without further ado, here's my talk (I speak from outlines, rather than writing the whole thing out, so this isn't exactly what I said, but the general ideas are there).
Three Mothers
There are three mothers who have impacted us all greatly:
1. Eve — The Mother of all Living.
2. Mary — The Mother of Christ.
3. Our own mothers.
First: Eve.
In the Encyclopedia of Mormonism we read:
Eve gets a bad rap, you know, the whole fruit thing, but in the end, she had to do it. She had to partake of the fruit, so that we could come to this mortal state.
It is important here to note, that Eve was not less than Adam, nor was she his better.
Thus we see, Eve was Adam's equal. His partner in the vital role they would play. For, neither one could bring about the Fall alone. They understood that, and that is why Adam, after Eve, partook of the Forbidden Fruit. They needed each other, and we needed the Fall.
In fact, Eve rejoiced in the knowledge of her actions. We read in Moses 5:10-11, "And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient (emphasis added)."
Next, let's talk about Mary. She was the mother of Christ. What an amazing challenge that would be — imagine being the woman who is raising the Son of God. The Savior of the World and all mankind. How humbling that must have been. Mary, as we know, was incredibly faithful. We read in Luke 1:38 of her humility and faithfulness. This is right after the angel of the Lord has appeared and told her of her divine roll. She was a little surprised, but, this was her answer: "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."
We also know that Christ loved her. As He hung on the cross, dying, He said to Mary, "Woman, behold thy son!" and to John, the Beloved, "Behold thy mother (John 19:26-27)!" It was so important to Christ that His mother be cared for, that He made sure she would be.
It's interesting to note, we have no reliable historical account of Mary in her later life.
Lastly, our mothers. I made a list of many different kinds of mothers, and there are far more than I have here.
There are the mothers who gave birth to us. And the mothers who raised us, they may or may not be the same person.
There are mothers who are always there when we need them, and mothers who are never there.
There are stay at home mothers, and mothers who work outside of the home.
There are mothers who are affectionate, and mothers who are aloof.
There are mothers who are Saints; and there are mothers who are less than Saints.
There are mothers with lots of kids, with few kids, with one kid, with no kids. But, most importantly, they impact us. These mothers have had some influence on our lives. Even if they were never around, they have impacted us.
This Mother's Day let us all think of these mothers who have affected us. Eve, the mother of all living; Mary, the mother of Christ; and our mothers, whether our own, or one that we stole from someone else. These mothers have impacted us, they are important to us, let us always be thankful to them.
Campbell, Beverly, Collegium Aesclapium address, April 1993 or "MOTHER EVE Mentor for Today's Woman: A Heritage of Honor," Collegium Aesculapium 1994, pp 37-49. Full text can be found here
I really hate being given that topic, especially on Mother's Day. The reason behind that is simple, really: there are three kinds of Mother's Day talks, and only three; and after being in the Church for as long as I have, one has pretty much heard every variation of the themes. They are as follows:
1. My mom is the greatest mom, ever. Blatantly false. My mom is the greatest mom, ever.
2. The mothers of the "Sons of Helaman" were amazing women. Very true. Completely indisputable. But, there are a limited number of scriptural references to said women, and only so many different ways they can be read.
3. Someday when you (and possibly I, depending on the gender of the speaker) are blessed enough to be a mother...Thus effectively leaving half the congregation to pick their fingernails, and annoying those women who don't plan on being mothers, for whatever reason.
Given those choices I knew mine had to be different. So, I decided to make a list of every mother mentioned in the Scriptures. I stopped right around Naomi (yeah, I didn't get very far). Why did I stop? I suddenly had a better idea: I would talk about the three mothers who have affected us all.
So, without further ado, here's my talk (I speak from outlines, rather than writing the whole thing out, so this isn't exactly what I said, but the general ideas are there).
Three Mothers
There are three mothers who have impacted us all greatly:
1. Eve — The Mother of all Living.
2. Mary — The Mother of Christ.
3. Our own mothers.
First: Eve.
In the Encyclopedia of Mormonism we read:
Eve, first woman of earthly creation, companion of Adam, and mother and matriarch of the human race, is honored by Latter-day Saints as one of the most important, righteous, and heroic of all the human family. Eve's supreme gift to mankind, the opportunity of life on this earth, resulted from her choice to become mortal (Quoted in Campbell).
Eve gets a bad rap, you know, the whole fruit thing, but in the end, she had to do it. She had to partake of the fruit, so that we could come to this mortal state.
It is important here to note, that Eve was not less than Adam, nor was she his better.
The original Hebrew text is...enlightening. The word that has been translated as "help meet" is a combination of two root words: ezer and k'enegdo.
The word ezer also combines two roots: the first meaning "to rescue" or "to save"...
The second Hebrew word, k'enegdo, is identified as meaning "equal (Campbell)."
Thus we see, Eve was Adam's equal. His partner in the vital role they would play. For, neither one could bring about the Fall alone. They understood that, and that is why Adam, after Eve, partook of the Forbidden Fruit. They needed each other, and we needed the Fall.
In fact, Eve rejoiced in the knowledge of her actions. We read in Moses 5:10-11, "And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient (emphasis added)."
Next, let's talk about Mary. She was the mother of Christ. What an amazing challenge that would be — imagine being the woman who is raising the Son of God. The Savior of the World and all mankind. How humbling that must have been. Mary, as we know, was incredibly faithful. We read in Luke 1:38 of her humility and faithfulness. This is right after the angel of the Lord has appeared and told her of her divine roll. She was a little surprised, but, this was her answer: "And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her."
We also know that Christ loved her. As He hung on the cross, dying, He said to Mary, "Woman, behold thy son!" and to John, the Beloved, "Behold thy mother (John 19:26-27)!" It was so important to Christ that His mother be cared for, that He made sure she would be.
It's interesting to note, we have no reliable historical account of Mary in her later life.
Lastly, our mothers. I made a list of many different kinds of mothers, and there are far more than I have here.
There are the mothers who gave birth to us. And the mothers who raised us, they may or may not be the same person.
There are mothers who are always there when we need them, and mothers who are never there.
There are stay at home mothers, and mothers who work outside of the home.
There are mothers who are affectionate, and mothers who are aloof.
There are mothers who are Saints; and there are mothers who are less than Saints.
There are mothers with lots of kids, with few kids, with one kid, with no kids. But, most importantly, they impact us. These mothers have had some influence on our lives. Even if they were never around, they have impacted us.
This Mother's Day let us all think of these mothers who have affected us. Eve, the mother of all living; Mary, the mother of Christ; and our mothers, whether our own, or one that we stole from someone else. These mothers have impacted us, they are important to us, let us always be thankful to them.
Campbell, Beverly, Collegium Aesclapium address, April 1993 or "MOTHER EVE Mentor for Today's Woman: A Heritage of Honor," Collegium Aesculapium 1994, pp 37-49. Full text can be found here
posted by granola girl at 11:10 pm
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