A Day We Don’t Forget

Every year around this time, we hear the reminders everywhere: Don’t forget Mother’s Day.

Buy the card. Order the flowers. Make the reservation. Call your mom. And please, for the love of all things holy, do not wait until Saturday night unless you enjoy standing in front of the greeting card section with twelve other panicked people all pretending they are “just browsing.”

But for some people, Mother’s Day is not a day they could forget if they tried.

For some, Mother’s Day is full of joy. It is breakfast, flowers, handmade cards, family pictures, hugs, laughter, and gratitude. It is a chance to say thank you to mothers, grandmothers, stepmothers, foster mothers, adoptive mothers, and all the women who have loved, nurtured, taught, protected, prayed, and shown up.

And that is beautiful.

But for others, Mother’s Day is tender. It can bring grief for a mother who has died, ache for a child who is no longer here, pain from a relationship that has been complicated or broken, sorrow over infertility, or sadness over a story that did not unfold the way someone hoped it would.

Most of us carry more than one feeling into days like this.

Gratitude and grief. Love and longing. Joy and ache. Celebration and silence.

That is why I appreciate the simple wisdom of Romans 12:15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.”

That sounds simple, but it may be one of the most loving things the church can do. We do not have to force everyone into the same emotion. We do not have to pretend Mother’s Day feels the same for every person. We can rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping. Sometimes we may even need to do both in the same heart.

This Easter season, we have been reflecting on The Long Echo, asking what resurrection leaves behind in us and through us. Mother’s Day has me thinking about the women whose love still echoes in our lives.

Not only biological mothers, but all the women who nurtured faith in us. The ones who prayed for us. Taught Sunday school. Made room at the table. Sent the card. Offered correction when we needed it. Encouraged us when we were not sure we could keep going. Loved us in ways that helped us better understand the love of God.

Their love echoes on.

So as we move toward this weekend, may we be gentle with one another. May we celebrate with gratitude. May we grieve with tenderness. May we make room for the complexity of the day. And may we remember the love that still echoes in us.

With Gratitude,

Rev. Rodney Whitfield
Senior Pastor
Aldersgate UMC