May 8, 2008

Celebrating Mother by the sun

It is always a fine day when the sun allows leisure on Angelkeep’s patio. All seats face southwest to take advantage of every moment of heavenly warm bright sunshine.

The morning’s reading consists of pages from Jay Gould’s “Hello World.” I stop after reading page 25 containing a poem he wrote which is titled “To Mother.” I can almost hear him reading it on WOWO while eating breakfast prior to school. It was the station we tuned into for school delay information.

Now I sit on the swing reflecting on those older days and upon Mom. My parents and grandparents have passed to a higher place. The approaching mothers’ celebration day encourages continued thought along that vein.

William Makepeace Thackeray is quoted from “Vanity Fair,” “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.” At my age now, I don’t elevate Mom quite that high but she yet seems something of a minor saint.

Six children must have given her moments of anguish. Even so, no foul words are remembered spoken by her. She seldom even outwardly got excited. She worked hard at being a homemaker, doing much with what she had available. Her love was never a doubt. A great mom.

Jay Gould compared mothers to the steadfastness of the sun. The sunshine from God gives us so much to enjoy. Spring sunshine—the best—advances the new growth of this year in nature. It provides us sights, sounds, foods, and wonders.

What a coincidence that just now a groundhog can be seen darting between newly budded undergrowth in the woods. He seems anxious to avoid my awareness of his presence. He should be! Was it not his February encounter with the very sun we speak of that caused such a delay in warm patio life? He caused all that nasty six-more-weeks of winter. Or was it really ten?

A Jewish proverb from an anonymous writer states: “God could not be everywhere and therefore He made mothers.” That conflicts just a tad with Mom’s story shared with her children about God using a rib from Adam. He made Adam’s helpmate. My personal theology seems to absorb a bit of both when contemplating the gifts I received from the faith of my mother and her mother.

Gould compared the power and life-giving spirit of the sun on the human race with a mother reigning supreme in her child’s soul’s sky, life, and loves. “Her light, to see them by,” he wrote.

Mother’s Day is but three days away. No longer do I have a need to consider a gift. Flowers were always an option. A book was good only if chapters were short and independent—like a digest or a devotional. A mother can use only so many soaps and powders. Chocolates she loved, but her health dictated avoidance.

I should give her a note. A thank you Mom writing, delivered in person. With a thank you kiss. Or give her a hug that used to seem awkward when I was younger. I hope she can read this from where she is.

A ripple drifts across Angelpond catching a ray of sunshine. It bounces into my face and brings me back to today. Much of who I am or what I have accomplished can be accounted for, in part, to mother’s encouragement.

My sunny day conclusion is that even though no living mother exists for me in this world, I have reason to celebrate on Sunday. Mine was a Godly mom.

WOWO’s past broadcaster makes his own “To Mother” conclusion.

“So, for one day, we pause and think

In gratitude that she…

First gave us life, and then, the light

By which our souls might see.”

Mr. Daugherty is a Wells County resident who, along with his wife Gwen, enjoy their back yard and have named it “Angelkeep.”

by ALAN DAUGHERTY

Talk about this story in our forums!