Dear Pastor,
Tone can be tricky in writing. Picture me popping my head in your office door, smiling and asking if we could talk for five minutes. I'm sipping on my diet coke as I sit down.
You know that I'm not one to shy away from speaking my mind, part of the reason you love me (mostly!), so I'm guessing that internally you brace yourself wondering what might be next.
I set my can down and this is what I'd say.
A few years ago I sat across from a woman who told me she doesn't go to church on Mother's Day because it is too hurtful. I'm not a mother, but I had never seen the day as hurtful. She had been married, had numerous miscarriages, divorced and was beyond child bearing years. It was like salt in mostly-healed wounds to go to church on that day. This made me sad, but I understood.
Fast forward several years to Mother's Day. A pastor asked all mothers to stand. On my immediate right, my mother stood and on my immediate left, a dear friend stood. I, a woman in her late 30s, sat. I don't know how others saw me, but I felt dehumanized, gutted as a woman. Real women stood, empty shells sat. I do not normally feel this way. I do not like feeling this way. I want no woman to ever feel this way in church again.
Last year a friend from the States happened to visit on Mother's Day and again the pastor (a different one) asked all mothers to stand. As a mother, she stood and I whispered to her, "I can't take it, I'm standing." She knows I'm not a mother yet she understood my standing / lie.
Here's the thing, I believe we can honor mothers without alienating others. I want women to feel welcome, appreciated, seen, and needed here in our little neck of the body of Christ.
- Do away with the standing.
You mean well, but it's just awkward. Does the woman who had a miscarriage stand? Does the mom whose children ran away stand? Does the single woman who is pregnant stand? A.W.K.W.A.R.D.
- Acknowledge the wide continuum of mothering.
To those who gave birth this year to their first child: we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child this year: we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains: we appreciate you
To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away: we mourn with you
To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment: we walk with you.
Forgive us when we say foolish things: we don't mean to make this harder than it is.
To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms: we need you
To those who have warm and close relationships with your children: we celebrate with you
To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children: we sit with you
To those who lost their mothers this year: we grieve with you
To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother: we acknowledge your experience
To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood: we are better for having you in our midst
To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children: we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be
To those who step-parent: we walk with you on these complex paths
To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren: yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year: we grieve and rejoice with you
To those who placed children up for adoption: we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising: we anticipate with you
This Mother's Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst: we remember you.
- Commend mothering for the ways it reflects the Imago Dei (Image of God) by bringing forth new life, nurturing those on her path, and living with the tension of providing both freedom and a safety net.
I know I might be an unusual one to be speaking about Mother's Day; but maybe that's why so many talk to me about mothering, I've got the parts, just not the goods.
Thanks for listening and for continuing to mother us in a shepherding way. Even though I'm a bit nervous to come on Sunday, I will be here. But if you make us stand, I might just walk out =).
Warmly and in your corner,
Amy
