Mothers

It was my turn to write the main message for our Relief Society monthly newsletter. I thought I'd post it here, too...

For the month of May, I thought I would talk about motherhood. Being a mother is playing an important role in someone’s life. Since everyone has a mother, this should relate to every person, but also I think motherhood is an archetype of stewardship of any kind. An archetype is a typical example of something, that may recur often in literature. The word comes to us through the Latin but originating from Greek words meaning “something molded first, as an example.” Motherhood is the example by which we learn how to be a steward.

The first part is so important and so beyond our conscious capability it has been automated by our creator. Our bodies are transformed to be the incubator of this child until it is developed enough to live as a separate being. During this time, the child takes what it needs right from our bodies, so that we must get extra nourishment—enough for both of us—or it is we, ourselves who suffer. We can learn from this that we are responsible for keeping ourselves healthy even though the baby will demand priority. We can be little help to the baby unless we remain strong ourselves. She depends on us, so we must be strong for her.

Each one of us is born as a helpless child who needs everything and can offer perhaps nothing but trouble, at first. We do everything for the baby, and slowly she grows and learns and can do more for herself. Our delight in her growth is our reward for our constant efforts, but also we can tell she is grateful and she loves us. But she won’t really know how much we have done for her until she takes on the role herself. We can’t expect the kind of gratitude we deserve to come from her, but instead it comes from God, who said “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these…Ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40) We serve her because she needs us.

Eventually, our children are grown and we realize they are our sisters and brothers as well as our children. We are still ahead of them in time, so there may be some experience we can help them with, but they can stand on their own two feet and our role is greatly diminished. And yet this special stewardship continues forever, and we will always try to help if we can. At some point we may become the helpless one and our child may be in the position of mothering us. This happens too. Then we realize that our true relationship is our sisterhood, and we have both played many roles. We serve her because she is our sister.

There are many other roles in which we have stewardship over individuals or groups of our brothers and sisters. We may be their teacher, their visiting teacher, their supervisor, their pianist, their chorister, their newsletter editor, their enrichment leader, their interest group leader, their secretary, their counselor, their advisor, their daughter-in-law, their mother-in-law, their grandmother, their stepmother, their stepdaughter, their aunt, their niece or their sister-in-law. In every case, let’s remember the examples of motherhood: She depends on us, so we must be strong for her. We serve her because she needs us. We serve her because she is our sister.