Happy Mother’s Day Dear Friend,
I’ve been thinking a lot about families this week. Thursday morning Heidi emailed me at work. Friday was Twins’ Day at school, and she couldn’t find anyone to be her twin. My first inclination was to curse the whole idea of Twins’ Day. Didn’t the administration realize that some kids would feel left out? On the heels of this question, came the answer “God setteth the solitary in families.” (Ps. 68:5) Whoa! God makes sure everyone is included. The Bible verse became my expectant prayer. And guess what? Late Thursday night a friend invited Heidi to be a triplet!
Mary Baker Eddy uses the phrase “where heart meets heart reciprocally blessed” (Miscellaneous Writings 207:2). This has become my definition of family. It occurred to me this weekend that sometimes an integral part of a family isn’t a person at all, but a place, project, idea or activity that unites hearts in a common purpose or that calls upon us to be our best, to bring forth courage, love, creativity, intelligence. Every thing or idea, whether animate or inanimate, has it’s origin in God and expresses God’s Father-Mothering, God's care for us.
Once a month I volunteer at a food pantry meeting with clients to assess their needs. This work at Circle of Concern has become an expression of family. It meets my need to love unselfishly, to open my heart to a larger community. I never volunteer without first praying, knowing that God is caring and providing for everyone who walks through the door. Last Sunday I invited a client to use an extra ticket and attend a performance of “High School Musical” with me. Apparently she had just received some unsettling news. She needed a friend that day. Before the show and during intermission, she asked me about prayer, life and death, Jesus (she is Jewish). We had a wonderful discussion and parted with hugs and smiles—feeling like family.
Email is definitely part of my family experience (No surprise there!)--a space where my heart gives and receives solace, a family-like table to exchange ideas, to lend encouragement when needed, to unobtrusively let each other know, “I’m there for you.” When Mom passed away, one of the things I really missed was having someone to share all life’s little details with. We talked frequently on the phone; she always knew what I was up to. But God even found a family for this desire of my heart giving me a friend who truly enjoys my frequent chit chatty emails, someone who, like Mom, I can tell when I’m headed off to the grocery store or busy folding mounds of laundry. (Heidi wrote an endearing Mother’s Day poem about the time, effort and care I put into laundry, and Lincoln painted me a beautiful trivet--great gifts!)
This weekend I’m cherishing the fact that not a single person, right idea or desire is solitary--on its own struggling to stay alive, find its way, or bear fruit. Because God is everywhere, family is everywhere--a tangible supporting presence for every idea.
Thanks for being a special part of my family! I love you,
Maria
2 comments:
beautiful...so grateful to be someone you care to share your thoughts with...love, kate
I can't resist sharing Heidi's Mother's Day Poem:
"Laundry With Love"
Plop down the basket,
And with practiced hands
You sort, tossing the clothes,
Lights, Whites, Darks
To begin the tedious task
You’d rather leave undone.
Turning the dial to find
The proper speed
Your mind doesn’t wander
To what you’d prefer to do;
Instead, each shirt you spot
Brings recollections of its owner.
With those smile thoughts,
You measure the soap,
Spill it into the water
And thump shut the lid
To wait for the blare
Of the persistently obnoxious buzzer.
“BZZZZZZ” it beckons you
To come back down, so to the
Laundry dungeon you trudge
To pull out the wet
And fling into the drier
Just 1 sheet of fabric softener.
Dripping clothes however,
You check with care,
Inspecting each and every piece.
Are all the spots gone? Remember,
Put Heidi’s jeans on the line
So they do not shrink.
I know at the store
You firmly said, “No”
Unless I washed them special
I promised I would,
and so you gave in, though you knew
You’d end up hand-washing yourself.
Later you will fold,
Roll each and every sock.
A pile for each family member
To be placed on their beds,
Without any thanks
Likely to come your way.
Despite this, though,
You toil away willingly
And I know in each pair of
Line dried jeans
And chocolate spot cleaned shirts
There went a mother’s love.
-Heidi May 11, 2007
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