May

May is a month in which so many things are commemorated. Both the Constitutions in Japan and Norway have a May anniversary. May is an important month to remember for folks who were alive during WWII. It is a month in which famous battles were fought in Chile, Ecuador, and in Mexico. Armenia celebrated its first independence from the Ottoman Empire during this month. Did you know that May 12th is the day of the Finnish Language in Finland? I am not sure how that works. Is that the day someone spoke Finnish for the first time? If so, how did they know it was Finnish? Hmm, this is the type of question that makes one lose time they can never get back. However, the one holiday that stands out in this month is Mother’s Day. While May is when the holiday is generally celebrated in the Western Hemisphere, mothers are honored during other times of the year elsewhere. 

Charles Kingsley wrote: “. . . the heroism of the average mother. Ah! When I think of that broad fact, I gather hope again for poor humanity; and this dark world looks bright . . . because, whatever else it is not full of, it is at least full of mothers.” 

Joaquin Miller wrote: The bravest battle that ever was fought: 

Shall I tell you where and when? 

On the maps of the world you will find it not; 

It was fought by the mothers of men. 

Mothers, women whose arms have moved cars when their child was in danger; women whose lips can cure deep hurts with a simple kiss; women who can make the darkest gloom disappear with a gentle hug and the whispered words “it is going to be ok.” It is mothers, whose ferociousness when protecting their young has provided fodder for bards to compose endless ballads; it is mothers, whose memory can bring a tear to the hardest of men; it is mothers . . . who Jesus used in imagery to communicate His sorrow at the loss of anyone. “Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37 NKJV) 

Hens are known to have perished while keeping their chicks alive under the protection of their wings. With that same love and willingness to sacrifice, Jesus teaches us His pain at the loss of anyone. The idea that God wishes anyone to be lost is ludicrous and inconsistent with the whole counsel of God found in the Scriptures. “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV) He (Jesus) also spread His limbs wide, as wide as the cross, to cover us with His blood and in so doing provide a means for us to enter into a saving relation-ship with God. 

As we celebrate mothers this month, remembering their love, sacrifice, and life lessons; as much as we cherish them and are grateful for what they have done for us, let us not forget that even a mother’s love pales in comparison to the love of Jesus Christ for a lost sinner. 

Blessings, Vic