The Tribune

By Sean Sebastian Knowles

(Address given on Mother’s Day 2017 at St Gregory The Great Anglican Church)

GOD has blessed the human race with mothers. Wonderful human beings with the ability to give life, nurture it and guide it.

Motherhood is a very demanding but integral part of life that should be celebrated in all aspects. However, mothers are human beings; we have put unnecessary challenges in the way of motherhood despite it being a complex challenge within itself. Plus, instead of (giving) respect to the mothers who take on the task of raising children, we have throughout history found twisted ways to undermine and devalue their important work.

Today, in my tribute to all mothers. I would like to take you on a brief journey through time; a journey where we regard the amazing deeds of mothers and the challenges they have faced because of them. Those amazing acts include the creation of life, the task of developing children and raising children without the aid of a spouse. Firstly, women have the astounding ability to create life. God has entrusted these people to be the ones to welcome us into the world. What could possibly stop this marvelous miracle? Simple, politics.

Those who have read thoroughly through the Bible would know that from the time of Abraham to Jesus and beyond, a woman was more valuable if she gave birth to a son. Think about how the sons, not the daughters, are mostly mentioned in the Bible. Hanna, the mother of the prophet Samuel constantly asked for a son, not a daughter. Yet, does the gender of the human being really determine the worth of a miracle?

In modern times it still does. During China’s one child policy there was an exception to the rule whereby if the first child a couple had was a girl, they could try again for a boy, while vice versa, one boy was deemed sufficient.

Additionally, mothers are responsible for the mental, physical, emotional and social development of children. Without a doubt, mothers have the ability to read the very soul of a child. This is how they are so readily able to guide them through life and soothe their pain. Many childhood memories are often made with the mother. For such careful loving, what do mothers receive in return?

In West African societies during the 1700s, mothers didn’t receive much gratitude from their sons down the line. During childhood, mother and son would share tender stories and carried out certain activities and rituals. Upon adolescence the father starts preparing the boy for manhood. Unfortunately, from being around the other men the boy was taught that these stories, activities and childhood memories are silly and not for him. They are ‘womanish’ and he must put them aside.

Finally, there are challenges faced by mothers who take care of those who are not their own. This task is often thrust upon the women due to illness, death or even imprisonment that befalls the biological parent. While dealing with their own pain, for the loss, they must also aid that child – a noble task.

Still, raising the child is all the more difficult for it is statistically proven that a child raised outside the biological home has more social and developmental problems. However, I would like to share a factor that truly complicates the job – abandonment. A child is raised by the biological mother in a single-parent setting. Soon she finds a man willing to be a husband but not a father to her children. Somehow she utters the bitter words “he doesn’t want you” to her own child and then leaves him or her in the hands of another. Could you imagine such pain? Could you imagine the psychological issues that a new mother has to deal with?

Conclusively, let us not forget that every society is guilty of marring motherhood. Whether it was by making motherhood a competition or tax, or belittling the work of mothers, man has certainly not given this phenomenon its due respect. Today, mothers still face challenges. Let’s move forward by dropping silly rhetoric that places value on gender.

We must celebrate that despite the challenges, mothers have preserved to do what they do best – love their children. As a hymn writer says after all, “Can a mother’s tender care, cease towards the child that she bears?”