Honoring Motherhood

Happy Mothers Day.

The many roles and duties performed by mothers are priceless. They range from biologically giving birth to emotionally and spiritually nurturing, guiding, and protecting the offspring. In a broad sense, not all mothers have biological children and conversely, not all women who have given birth perform the demanding duties of motherhood. Two examples come to mind: The blessed Virgin, Mary, the mother Christ, and Mafua Ndem - Chiara Lubich, a Mafua of the Lebialem people.

The second Sunday in May is a special day, set aside, to celebrate Motherhood. The day is celebrated to honor mothers and express gratitude for their role in giving birth and nurturing life. At a graduation ceremony this weekend, coinciding with mothers day, the commencement speaker indicated that many children today believe that their mothers and fathers are not sophisticated enough to guide them. At the same ceremony a young graduate moved the attendance to tears when she honestly and tactfully apologized and wondered why it took her so long to listen to the mother. 

The family is a special unit to all of us. As the African saying goes, “it takes a village to raise a child.” The child’s first village is the family unit before the global village. We salute all our mothers, grand mothers, mother-in-laws, wives, aunts, sisters, daughters and girl friends, who perform the invaluable tasks of motherhood. We thank them for being special mothers in so many ways and in their many roles on earth.