Mother's Day began:
In 1858, when Anna Jarvis, a young Appalachian
homemaker, organized "Mother's Work Days"
to improve the sanitation and avert deaths
from disease-bearing insects and seepage of
polluted water.
In 1872, when Boston poet, pacifist and women's
suffragist Julia Ward Howe established a special
day for mothers --and for peace-- not long
after the bloody Franco-Prussian War.
In 1905, when Anna Jarvis died. Her daughter,
also named Anna, decided to memorialize her
mother's lifelong activism, and began a campaign
that culminated in 1914 when Congress passed
a Mother's Day resolution.
The correct answer: All of the above. Each
woman and all of these events have contributed
to the present occasion now celebrated on
the second Sunday in May.
The cause of world peace was the impetus
for Julia Ward Howe's establishment, over
a century ago, of a special day for mothers.
Following unsuccessful efforts to pull together
an international pacifist conference after
the Franco-Prussian War, Howe began to think
of a global appeal to women.
"While the war was still in progress,"
she wrote, she keenly felt the "cruel
and unnecessary character of the contest."
She believed, as any woman might, that it
could have been settled without bloodshed.
And, she wondered, "Why do not the mothers
of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent
the waste of that human life of which they
alone bear and know the cost?"
Howe's version of Mother's Day, which served
as an occasion for advocating peace, was held
successfully in Boston and elsewhere for several
years, but eventually lost popularity and
disappeared from public notice in the years
preceding World War I.
For Anna Jarvis, also known as "Mother
Jarvis," community improvement by mothers
was only a beginning. Throughout the Civil
War she organized women's brigades, asking
her workers to do all they could without regard
for which side their men had chosen. And,
in 1868, she took the initiative to heal the
bitter rifts between her Confederate and Union
neighbors.
The younger Anna Jarvis was only twelve years
old in 1878 when she listened to her mother
teach a Sunday school lesson on mothers in
the Bible. "I hope and pray that someone,
sometime, will found a memorial mother's day,"
the senior Jarvis said. "There are many
days for men, but none for mothers."
Following her mother's death, Anna Jarvis
embarked on a remarkable campaign. She poured
out a constant stream of letters to men of
prominence -- President William Taft and former
President Theodore Roosevelt among them --
and enlisted considerable help from Philadelphia
merchant John Wannamaker.
By May of 1907, a Mother's Day service had
been arranged on the second Sunday in May
at the Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia,
where Mother Jarvis had taught. That same
day a special service was held at the Wannamaker
Auditorium in Philadelphia, which could seat
no more than a third of the 15,000 people
who showed up.
The custom spread to churches in 45 states
and in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Mexico and Canada.
The Governor of West Virginia proclaimed Mother's
Day in 1912; Pennsylvania's governor in 1913
did the same. The following year saw the Congressional
Resolution, which was promptly signed by President
Woodrow Wilson.
Mother's Day has endured. It serves now, as
it originally did, to recognize the contributions
of women. Mother's Day, like the job of "mothering,"
is varied and diverse. Perhaps that's only
appropriate for a day honoring the multiple
ways women find to nurture their families,
and the ways in which so many have nurtured
their communities, their countries, and the
larger world.
What the Bible says About Mothers...
- Gen 3:20 Adam named his wife Eve, because
she would become the mother of all the living.
- Exo 20:12 "Honor your father and
your mother, so that you may live long in
the land theLORD your God is giving you.
- Lev 19:3 "'Each of you must respect
his mother and father, and you must observe
my Sabbaths. I am the LORD your God.
- Deu 5:16 "Honor your father and
your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded
you, so that you may live long and that
it may go well with you in the land the
LORD your God is giving you.
- 2 Ki 4:30 But the child's mother said,
"As surely as the LORD lives and as
you live, I will not leave you." So
he got up and followed her.
- Prov 10:1 The proverbs of Solomon: A
wise son brings joy to his father, but a
foolish son grief to his mother.
- Isa 66:13 As a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted
over Jerusalem."
- Ezek 16:44 "'Everyone who quotes
proverbs will quote this proverb about you:
"Like mother, like daughter."
- Luke 1:43 But why am I so favored, that
the mother of my Lord should come to me?
- Luke 2:51 Then he went down to Nazareth
with them and was obedient to them. But
his mother treasured all these things in
her heart.
- John 19:26-27 When Jesus saw his mother
there, and the disciple whom he loved standing
nearby, he said to his mother, "Dear
woman, here is your son," and to the
disciple, "Here is your mother."
From that time on, this disciple took her
into his home.
Mother's
Day Blessing
"All that I am or ever hope to be, I
owe to my angel Mother." - Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865).
"The most important thing a father can
do for his children is to love their mother."
-
Author Unknown.
"My mother was the most beautiful woman
I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I
attribute all my success in life to the moral,
intellectual and physical education I received
from her." -- George Washington (1732-1799).
"There never was a woman like her. She
was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness...
The memory of my mother and her teachings
were, after all, the only capital I had to
start life with, and on that capital I have
made my way." -- Andrew Jackson.
"Who ran to help me when I fell, And
would some pretty story tell, Or kiss the
place to make it well? My Mother." --Ann
Taylor
"Of all the rights of women, the greatest
is to be a mother." --Lin Yutang
"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss
at the bottom of which you will always find
forgiveness." --Honore de Balzac
"By and large, mothers and housewives
are the only workers who do not have regular
time off. They are the great vacationless
class." --Anne Morrow Lindbergh
"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom."
--Henry Ward Beecher
A
Mother’s Love
My mom only had one eye. I hated her... she
was such an embarrassment.
She cooked for students & teachers to
support the family.
There was this one day during elementary school
where my mom came to say hello to me.
I was so embarrassed.
How could she do this to me?
I ignored her, threw her a hateful look and
ran out.
The next day at school one of my classmates
said, 'EEEE, your mom
only has one eye!'
I wanted to bury myself.
I also wanted my mom to just disappear.
I confronted her that day and said, ' If you're
only goanna make
me a laughing stock, why don't you just die?'
My mom did not respond...
I didn't even stop to think for a second about
what I had said, because
I was full of anger.
I was oblivious to her feelings.
I wanted out of that house, and have nothing
to do with her.
So I studied real hard, got a chance to go
abroad to study.
Then, I got married.
I bought a house of my own.
I had kids of my own.
I was happy with my life, my kids and the
comforts, Then one day, my
mother came to visit me.
She hadn't seen me in years and she didn't
even meet her grandchildren.
When she stood by the door, my children laughed
at her, and I yelled at
her for coming over uninvited.
I screamed at her, 'How dare you come to my
house and scare my children!'
GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!'
And to this, my mother quietly answered, 'Oh,
I'm so sorry. I may have
gotten the wrong address,'
and she disappeared out of sight.
One day, a letter regarding a school reunion
came to my house.
So I lied to my wife that I was going on a
business trip.
After the reunion, I went to the old shack
just out of curiosity.
My neighbors said that she died.
I did not shed a single tear.
They handed me a letter that she had wanted
me to have.
'My dearest son,
I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that
I came to your house and
scared your children.
I was so glad when I heard you were coming
for the reunion.
But I may not be able to even get out of bed
to see you.
I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrassment
to you when you were
growing up.
You see........when you were very little,
you got into an accident, and
lost your eye.
As a mother, I couldn't stand watching you
having to grow up with one eye.
So I gave you mine.
I was so proud of my son who was seeing a
whole new world for me, in my
place, with that eye.
With all my love to you.
Sincerely,
Your mother
Always tell someone that you love them because
you never know what day will be their last,
or your own. Always seek to resolve your problems
or disagreements with loved ones because if
either of you should pass on before, the one
who is left alive will have the rest of their
life to ponder those unresolved feelings but
will never find closure. And closure usually
brings peace...
Special
Songs for mother's day
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