Since Mother's Day is this Sunday, let's dedicate this post to our mothers. What has your mom taught you about faith and God? What do you think about the role of mothers in general in God's plan? I'd love to read any and all of your mother-related thoughts.
My mother has taught me much about Christ. Honestly, I don’t really remember anything in particular that she taught me about the gospel, but I remember that she did and I remember feeling the warmth of her testimony. I also remember seeing her crying as she gave talks—we would joke about how Mom always cried when she gave talks. But what stands out more to me is her example of pure love. I know she didn’t sleep well when any of her children were out of the home—she often stayed up late waiting for us to arrive back at home. She wrote me a letter every week while I was on my mission. This last Easter weekend, as we were getting ready to leave Provo for home, she called us, I think, 3 times (and that was before breakfast!). She wanted to know precisely when we left so that she could calculate exactly when we would pull into the driveway at home. That example of constant, selfless love has blessed me and my family.
ReplyDeleteAs I’ve thought about my mom, I remembered something she told me once: She believes that motherhood itself can be viewed as a type of Christ. Elder Bradley D. Foster in the April 2010 General Conference echoed this sentiment when he said, “Perhaps the reason we respond so universally to our mothers’ love is because it typifies the love of our Savior.”
How is motherhood a type of Christ? Mothers are creators—their bodies generate a self-sustaining, individual globe. Then in a very painful process, they deliver that child. Through the sacrifice of their own bodies, they grant their child new and independent life. While nursing, mothers nourish their children on a kind of living water. As they do so, they nurture and care for their children while their children are incapable of doing so themselves. These typological connections should, I think, exalt motherhood and also give us a point of reference for understanding God’s love. He is patient like a mother teaching her child to walk, gentle like a mother cradling a newborn, and infinitely more. Is it any wonder that President Joseph F. Smith said, “The love of a true mother comes nearer [to] being like the love of God than any other kind of love?”
One more little thought: Isn't it cool that Christ compares himself to a mother in Matt. 23:37? "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!"
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