I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also – 2 Timothy 1:5, NIV.
This week we celebrate mothers around the world on Mother’s Day. Every person is born of a woman. If you are reading this, you came to this world through a mother and your belly button is a lifetime reminder. Oh, you never thought that your navel was that important! Did you?
Ask a little child, ‘What is your mother’s name’, and she is most likely to answer, “Mummy.” What did you say? “My mummy’s name is Mummy.”
Mother! Mere! Mama! Mae! Moeder! Indung! Mutter! Nne! Oni! Anywhere in the world, in all languages, it elicits unfathomable depths of intimacy between mother and child.
Throughout the Bible books of Kings and Chronicles in the chronicler’s listing of the kings of Israel, beginning from Jeroboam the son of Nebat in 1 Kings 11:26 to 2 Chronicles 29:1 where “Hezekiah began to reign”, we find the phrase, “And his mother’s name was…” It is like a recurring decimal. Except in some exceptional cases, it seems to be all that is said about the mothers of these kings. Why mention them?
Some thoughts come to my mind. The Queen Mother had a special pride of place in the monarchy and nation as a whole. They were held with utmost regard and honour.
Secondly, I believe that queen mothers were perceived to be the shapers of the moral character of these kings because immediately after, the next verse almost always describes the character of the king or his reign either, “he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord,” or “he was evil in the sight of the Lord.”
Like the mothers of the biblical kings, our mothers are very important. They are priceless. We can neither forget them nor discount the influence they have had on our lives. Our hearts are filled with love and awe at the manner they lay down their lives for us.
By nature, mothers have deep inner strength and are faithful to the calling of motherhood. Yes, motherhood is a calling. They cradle the nations by nurturing and shaping every generation. They are the epitome of love, nurture, care, discipline and intimacy: an intimacy that begins in the womb.
Writing about the intimacy between mother and child in the womb, Gordon MacDonald says, “Every heartbeat is felt; every joy; every anxiety. This womb experience between mother and child: it conveys everything we mean by the word intimacy”.
All around the globe, we celebrate our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers and for a lucky few, our great-great-grandmothers. We hold them in admiration and high regard.
Practically everyone who lived with their mother or a mother figure can hardly forget their impact and influence in a hurry (for good or bad in some cases).
My late mother’s name rings a bell in my soul. Every time I hear the name “Veronica” no matter who bears it, it resonates and elicits memories.
Whether our mothers are gone from the stage of life or are still around with us, our hearts resonate one way or the other with Prince Nico Mbarga, through the lyrics of his 1976 Nigerian Pidgin English song, Sweet Mother, extolling the virtues of motherhood:
Sweet mother, I no go forget you
For de suffer we you suffer for me yeah
When I dey cry my mother go carry me
She go say my pikin wetin you dey cry yeah yeah
Stop stop! stop stop! stop stop!
Make you no cry again o
When I won sleep my mother go pet me
She go lie me well-well for bed
She go cover me cloth say make you sleep
Sleep, sleep my pikin o
When I dey hungry my mother go run up and down
She dey find me something wey I go chop
Sweet mother a ah, sweet mother oo… eh
When I dey sick my mother go cry cry cry
She go say instead wey I go die, make she die o
She go beg God, God help me, God help me, my pikin o
If I no sleep, my mother no go sleep
If I no chop, my mother no go chop
She no dey tire ah
Sweet mother I no go forget you
For dey suffer we you suffer for me yeah
While most people have cause to celebrate their mothers, others might be reading this that were not opportune to be raised by their biological mothers, due to death or some dysfunction in their family. Some were well taken care of, but many had to endure tyrant or nonchalant guardians. The memories are not pleasant. However, if you are alive and well today, you have cause to be grateful.
This week we especially celebrate motherhood and pray for our mothers, but we must cherish and honour our mothers always, and that without fail.
We are deeply indebted to our mothers. For the man of God Timothy, the names of two mothers resonate, Eunice and Lois, his mother and grandmother. May God bless and protect our mothers. Every single one.
What is your mother’s name? How do you think of her?
So, what is in a mother’s name? Absolute wonder!
Thank you. Do not forget to keep Living, Loving and Learning.
References:
2Timothy 1:5, NIV.
Gordon MacDonald: When Men Think Private Thoughts; Thomas Nelson; 6045, 8th edition (May, 1997)
Prince Nico Mbarga: Sweet Mother; Prince Nico Mbarga and Rocafil Jazz International (1976)