May 9, 2010
Translated by Lydia Ma

Carnations in May remind us to express gratitude to all mothers on earth. Every woman takes on countless responsibilities and makes innumerable sacrifices from the moment she delivers her baby after ten months of pregnancy. A lot of tears and sweat are included in the process of raising a child and motherhood is a lifetime responsibility.

Perhaps modern women no longer see serving their husbands and children as the center of their lives. Many women nowadays have gone on to pursue self-realization and prestigious careers on top of starting a family. But if we go back to the basics, we will find a woman who simply loves her children.

That is the reason every mother receives the gift of motherhood from God with trembling hands and a humbled heart. Motherhood is filled with pain and comfort as mothers watch their children grow. Both mother and child must adjust to each other and learn from each other continually.

The renowned poet Khalil Gibran once said parents are like bows and children are like arrows. A bow doesn't force an arrow to fly to its desired destination; rather, it supports and enables an arrow to fly higher. In the same way, parents must try to provide a good environment for their children to grow into adulthood instead of forcing them down a certain path.

It is unfortunate that so many examples of broken families have dominated the news lately. By now, we've all heard of a little girl surnamed Chao who was burned to death along with her mother when her mother committed suicide. This incident stunned Taiwanese society and became an example of motherly love gone wrong.

This incident should serve as a wake-up call that there are broken families in need of our help and comfort to restore shattered pieces of their lives. This tragedy reminds us that a mother's love can be powerful in shaping a child into a great person, but it can also be very frail and wrongheaded.

During the early stages of a child's development, mothers exert stronger influence on their children than fathers. But it is precisely because mothers play such crucial roles in the development of a child that we must ask for God's wisdom in fulfilling this role. We need wisdom to know how we can support our children as we become that stretched bow on which arrows rely on to soar into the sky.

As many mothers will testify, motherhood has made them both extremely strong and extremely vulnerable. It has made them strong in the sense that they are willing to do anything for their children. But it has also rendered them vulnerable as they realize they cannot be by their children's side forever to shield and protect them.

No matter how much a mother may wish to shield her children from life's storms or how much she dotes on them, she cannot fight life's battles for them. Faced with this fact of life, mothers must humble themselves and let go. They must lay down their worries and entrust their children to God, knowing that God always has the best plan for their children.

The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. As we celebrate Mothers Day, we pray God will grant wisdom to every mother so that they can take good care of their inheritance and fulfill their calling given them by God.

As Elizabeth said to Mary long ago, we also say, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child you will bear." We wish all mothers happiness not just on Mothers Day but every day.

Taiwan Church News