I miss my mother. Mom died in December 2010. I guess last year I was still a bit out of touch with reality when Mother’s Day arrived. I had not completed my grieving at that time. Last Sunday, however, there was a “feeling of emptiness.” We never outgrow the stability in life that comes with the presence of our mother. There is just something about being able to call, or write, or visit our moms that gives a steadiness to the foundation of life. My mom was funny in a lot of ways. Some of those ways she would never have realized she was funny, because she was as serious as she could be. She was always instructing me in the “methods of effective ministry” (my words). Mom was determined that I would be successful in ministry; she knew how to do it, and I was going to do it! It’s funny how much she” loved” me into seeking to be effective and successful. Mom was from a strong Presbyterian background. Her grandfather was a Presbyterian pastor, and her uncle was a Presbyterian pastor professor at Union Seminary in Richmond. Mom was baptized in the Episcopal Church, confirmed in the Presbyterian Church, and a very devoted Methodist for the rest of her life, after marrying my dad in 1945. Mom loved my brother, John, and me in every way a mother could. She also tolerated a lot from John and me. My brother and I had always heard that “preacher’s kids” were the meanest ones in the world, so we worked hard to live up to that reputation. Mom was the epitome of grace. She exuded grace. She lavished grace on all the downcast, downtrodden people she ever knew. She “walked with queens” (to revise a bit and borrow from Kipling) but never lost the human touch. And I revere her more every year of my life. I missed her a lot this Mother’s Day. Not because of what she had taught with her voice, but because of what she manifested in her living.
God is like a loving mother. I know that is true because it was from my mom that I learned about love, and grace, and caring, and sharing, and life, and family, and church, and Jesus, and God. A mother’s love is amazing! God’s love is even more amazing!
