Love expands.  It is movement, change, rearrangement and development. Love can withstand heat and cold, and when it does, it can change everything within and around it.  Love can soar above, below and within.  Love exists before, during and after our time here on earth.  Love is a good word we can use to hold everything together and apart. When I allow and trust in the dynamic nature of love, I am in awe.

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I have these thoughts in relation to my conception of love.  Everyone has a mother, living or not, living locally or separated for whatever reason.  Usually we hear stories about how selfless our mothers were and how much of themselves.they gave to us.  We dutifully send our words and tokens of appreciation for their life of sacrifice. If we currently don’t get along with our mothers, or even if we do, we may feel discomfort and confusion with this day.  It may be even harder for those of us whose mother has passed away. We may wish to avoid Mother’s Day altogether.

A new attitude towards our concept of mothers may be able to help. A new attitude may permit everyone to celebrate with ease!  How do mothers think about themselves?

Do mothers  think about their state of motherhood as sacrifice, as selflessness?. I wonder if mothers have any time to think about themselves as an object of reverence, an idol of sorts. I wonder if mothers are comfortable with these misleading comments in greeting cards and news stories about mothers. Mothers are pretty busy just  being and doing and occasionally, sleeping!  They have learned that the less they think of themselves as beings who have been placed on pedestals, and more like human beings who enjoy the ups and down of their family, they flourish happily and with more ease.

I have experienced motherhood and grand motherhood . I don’t think it is at all helpful for me to think about my life as a mother in terms of selflessness.  For me, motherhood is  the vivid participation in movement, development, and growth in family living that makes me especially appreciative of being a mother.

This expansion and engagement of spirit makes motherhood so desirable. Love energizes us to go beyond what we imagined we could do.  Love moves us forward and outward.  Love creates.  Love enjoys.  Love continues to breathe  even when things appear stressful.  Love takes the higher view or sometimes appear to take no view at all as it mysteriously unfolds to new possibilities.

For me, motherhood has always been the privilege of participation.  It is delight in playing with Life itself, the planning and executing, the meltdowns and the ah-ha moments.

Whether you have been a mother or not, this year Mother’s Day can be a celebration for mothers and for children.  Yes, it singles out one player in the family, but hopefully, it can be a celebration of how love can expand our relationships beyond what we thought.  Hopefully it will be a time to listen and share with our mothers, in person or in thoughts. Ease up on the one-line speeches that can cut off the loves energy.  Instead, enjoy interaction with the family you are with, just the way they are now!  Whatever you presently feel about your own mother, take time to celebrate the current of love that continues to hold all of us together!