Chalice Lighting

All that life is made of, mothers are made of too. Today we sing the songs of so many,

Mothers who are single parents, foster parents, mothers who relinquished their young out of necessity,

Mothers who found their heart in adoption,

Mothers who left their children in a thousand ways,

Mothers who rejoice and mothers who mourn.

On this day that honors Mothers let us honor all mothers

who from somewhere in their being have freely and wholeheartedly given life, and sustenance, and vision to us.

Affirmations (To be recited/read by mothers from the congregation)

1. I remember leaving the hospital thinking, Wait. Are they going to let me just walk off with him? I don’t know beans about babies! I don’t have a license to do this. We’re just amateurs. Anne Tyler

2. "God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." A Jewish Proverb

3. "Making the decision to have a child-it's momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." Elizabeth Stone

4. "To understand a mother's love, bear your own children." Chinese Proverb

5. "There is no friendship, no love, like that of the parent for the child." Henry Ward Beecher

6. Motherhood is not for the fainthearted. Frogs, skinned knees and the insults of teenage girls are not meant for the wimpy. Danielle Steel

7. I always wanted children, but not until they were actually part of my life did I realize that I could love that fiercely, or get that angry. Cokie Roberts

8. What your mother tells you now in time you will come to know Mitsuye Yamada

9. No one else, ever, will think you’re great the way your mother does Mary Matalin

Reading

We Are Loved By An Unending Love Rabbi Rami Shapiro

We are loved by an unending love.

We are embraced by arms that find us even when we are hidden from ourselves.

We are touched by fingers that soothe us even when we are too proud for soothing.

We are counseled by voices that guide us even when we are too embittered to hear.

We are loved by an unending love.

We are supported by hands that uplift us even in the midst of a fall.

We are urged on by eyes that meet us even when we are too weak for meeting.

We are loved by an unending love.

Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled,

Ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices;

Ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles;

We are loved by an unending love.

Exploration: When God Made Moms – By Erma Bombeck

When the good Lord was creating mothers!!!!!

He was into His sixth day of overtime when the angel appeared and said, "You're doing a lot of fiddling around on this one."

AND THE LORD SAID....."Have you read the specs on this order?

She has to be completely washable, but not plastic. Have 180 moveable parts... all replaceable. Run on black coffee and leftovers. Have a lap that disappears when she stands up, a kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair, and six pairs of hands."

And the angel shook her head slowly and said, "Six pairs of hands...no way."

"It is not the hands that are causing me problems," said the Lord, "It's the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have."

"That's on the standard model?" asked the angel.

THE LORD NODDED....One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks "What are you kids doing in there?" when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn't, but what she has to know; and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, "I understand and I love you", without so much as uttering a word."

"Lord", said the angel touching his sleeve gently, "go to bed, tomorrow...."

"I can't", said the Lord, "I'm so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick....can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger, and can get a nine year old to stand under a shower."

The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly.

"It's too soft", she sighed.

"But tough!" said the Lord excitedly.

You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure."

"Can it think?"

"Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise", said the Creator.

Finally the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. "There's a leak", she pronounced. "I told you, you were trying to put too much into this model."

"It's not a leak", said the Lord. "It's a tear".

"What's it for?"

"It's for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness and pride."

"You're a genius", said the angel.

THE LORD LOOKED SOMBER..... "BUT I DIDN'T PUT IT THERE".

For Today’s Stewardship Story, Some Motherly Advice...

• Always change your underwear; you never know when you'll have an accident.

• Don't make that face or it'll freeze in that position.

• Be careful or you'll put your eye out.

• What if everyone jumped off a cliff? Would you do it, too?

• You have enough dirt behind those ears to grow potatoes!

• Close that door! Were you born in a barn?

• If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

• Don't put that in your mouth; you don't know where it's been!

• And the last and most important advice, as mother always said, “Support your faith community!”