I recently watched Michele Obama's documentary "Becoming", in which she shares a bit of her life, growing up, in the White House and how it is now. Michele shared that when she was growing up her parents and grandparents told her she could be anything she wanted, and they instilled in her a work ethic to help her reach her dreams. In high school, she went to see her guidance counselor to talk about colleges. The counselor asked what schools Michele was insterested in and she replied "Princeon". The counselor then told her that she wasn't Princeton material. Thank God, Michele didn't listen to her guidance counselor. We all have within in us a naysayer and a nurturer; we choose which to pay attention to. Today we honor the mothering Spirit within that nurtures, supports and unconditinally loves us.<!--break-->
Whether our mothers are still with us, or have gone on to the next adventure in God's infinite school of life, we still all have a mother. Regardless if we were raised by our birth mothers or not, as we honor mothers of the world, let's explore how this mothering principle is conveyed to each of us through our Mother-Father God.
The Norman Rockwell illustrations generally show us a picture of a mother who loves us in spite of what we do, not because of what we do...this blessing that mother’s unconditional love gives us is that it helps us understand the unconditional love of God!
And we can look into every home and see that when this love is expressed,
the members of the household feel special and loved. And the natural affect of all this love is a feeling of security. Only love could bring you security. As John tells us, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." (1John 4:18)
If we did not receive this deep love while growing up, then we can learn to give it to ourselves, and to open to the love of God
.
There are many names for the divine and one that we hear is Mother Father God. The divine is the source of the nurturing love that moms give. God is the blueprint for nurturing love, and because we are made in the image of God, we each have this ability to nurture within.
We nurture ourselves, our dreams, our thoughts, our physical well-being. To nurture is to care for and encourage the growth or development of something. It comes from the Latin ‘to feed’ and has its roots in nourishment. This time of year, gardeners are nurturing seeds that have been planted, knowing in faith that the tender seedlings will grow into a beautiful plant.
As we nurture all aspects of our life to bring forth a balanced life, we do so through faith, patience and love.
We have to have faith in the vision we are holding, nurturing it and seeing it come to fruition in our mind’s eye, whether it’s a dream of owning our own business, getting into shape, or deepening our spiritual life. We have faith, in that we see it happening, before it happens. Now this is just one piece of the manifestation equation. We also depend on our inner guidance to show us what we need to do to make it happen, what steps we must take. Just as the gardener needs to water, and weed and feed the seedlings, we must learn what to do to nurture our dreams. And then we must have patience.
Daily Word May 14, 1957
PATIENTLY I AWAIT THE GOOD FOR WHICH I PRAY, FOR I KNOW THAT I SHALL REAP THE GOOD I HAVE SOWN.
(modified from DW)
IT TAKES patience to plant a garden, to wait for the seeds to send down roots, to take on substance, to grow from a small shoot into maturity. It takes patience to wait for the fruit or vegetables, a patience born of the faith that the fruit will surely come forth.
Those who plant gardens are following a plan, obeying a law that provides for a small seed to fulfill itself to bring forth fruit according to its kind. This patience waits for the law to prove itself, and is rewarded with the fruit.
In the same way, it takes patience to pray a prayer, to wait for it to send down roots, to take on the substance of our thought and feeling. It takes patience to let this prayer grow into the positive assurance of the good we seek.
We who pray a prayer are also obeying a law of fulfillment. Our patience waits for the law to prove itself, and we are rewarded with the fruit of answered prayer.
Having heard the word, hold it fast, and bring forth fruit with patience. LUKE 8:15.
Patience of course is a quality of love. You may not think of yourself as patient, but the truth is God has given you a spirit of patience, for God has created you in love, as love. But just like many of the spiritual qualities, we might need to practice it for it to become automatic.
We can practice patience by not allowing ourselves to become impatient with others or irritated by what seem to be their shortcomings.
Be patient with them all. 1 Thessalonians 5:14 With them all! Beginning with your self.
We can practice patience by not allowing ourselves to become upset when there are delays or changes in plans. When we are not able to go on that vacation due to the pandemic or even go out to eat at our favorite restaurant.
Let us practice patience today, for to do so is to put the power of love into practice.
We can practice patience by not allowing ourselves to become discouraged if our progress is not as rapid as we had hoped for or if expected results do not come. We can instead nurture ourselves, knowing that right where we are, we are growing.
Mary Morrisey wrote‘Have you ever heard how Chinese bamboo grows? This tree when planted, watered and nurtured for an entire growing season doesn’t seem to have grown much as an inch. Then, after the second growing season, as season in which the farmer takes extra care to water, fertilize and care for the bamboo tree, the tree still hasn’t shown any signs of growth. So it goes for four straight years. The farmer has very little to show for all his efforts. Then along comes year five. That Chinese bamboo tree finally comes forth and then grows up to eighty feet in just one growing season.
Did the little tree lie dormant for four years only to grow exponentially in the fith? No during those four years it was developing a massive root system strong enough to support its potential for outward growth.
Our lives are like that. Sometimes it feels like we’re studying and practicing and remembering and putting our focus on feeling our hearts and opening our minds and living in expanded awareness, yet it hardly seems like anything is happening. And then all fo a sudden it feels as if our whole lives have moved to a whole new level. So today, just take time to nurture that which is real. Take time to nurture thoughts that are kind and loving about yourself and your world. What you’ll notice over time, is you’ll look back and you’ll way ‘this is a whole new life, how did this happen|?’ Well it happened a little at a time- and all at once.”
With Faith, patience and love.
Yes, today we honor mothers all over the world, and remember the mothering spirit within each of us.
Kevin missed playing with his grandchildren, since the quarantine required that they all stay in isolation—but he came up with a creative way to connect and to nurture them.
Living just a third mile down the road, the young family was experiencing cabin fever, with three small boys under the age of 5, until they got a telephone call with directions for everyone to go out on their deck.
Everybody became super excited! They looked all around, until the saw something in the sky coming towards them! As it got closer, they could see it was a drone carrying a box of ‘Munchkins’ Dunkin’ Donut holes, delivered right into their arms.
The special delivery from their granddad let them all know how special they were and how loved.
We all have this mothering spirit within, because we are all made in the image of our Mother Father God.
Mama Myrtles wrote ‘The mother mind and heart is the matrix in which character is molded and home influences do much to shape the power of a nation. Given wise and loving mothers, orderly and harmonious homes, we could eventually dispense with primitive laws and corrective outlays. A grateful, loving heart at the head of the house redeems it from discord and discontent and ultimately changes the spears and swords of a nation into plowshares and pruning hooks.”
We each are the head of our own house, that which houses our thoughts. Let us turn within to cultivate a grateful and loving heart.