mothers of men - revisited

Spiritual resource to share: no nonsense mothering

As a kid, I always wanted sons. I fell in love with the idea of having boys after watching Bonanza, (a television western series in the US). For some reason, I was stuck on having five -five boys who would be raised to respect men and women and their elders, and to be well rounded, robust and educated gentleman. Now that I have two boys (the more realistic and perfect number for our family) I have been totally captivated with them and have had to do some major re-thinking about boys.....They are not all like Bonanza’s Cartwright family.

To me, doing things right, means understanding the spiritual dimension of things. Parenting boys is no exception! So many ideas in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures have helped me focus on spiritually parenting.

Mary Baker Eddy writes in Science and Health some strong facets about the role of parents, mothers in particular:

A mother's affection cannot be weaned from her child, because the mother-love includes purity and constancy, both of which are immortal. Therefore maternal affection lives on under whatever difficulties. (p. 60)

Under the heading of “A mother's responsibility:”

A mother is the strongest educator, either for or against crime. Her thoughts form the embryo of another mortal mind, and unconsciously mould it, either after a model odious to herself or through divine influence, "according to the pattern showed to thee in the mount." Hence the importance of Christian Science, from which we learn of the one Mind and of the availability of good as the remedy for every woe. (p. 236)

MBEddy understood God as Father and Mother. In her definition of Mother, she writes

MOTHER. God; divine and eternal Principle; Life, Truth, and Love. (p. 592)

My visits with old friends who are also mothers of men reminded of how important it was to have the support of other mothers. Raising children is intense. But boy energy is a chapter in itself. As one friend said, “You have to laugh often! It’s either that or go nuts!”

Hillary Clinton wrote a book named after the African proverb: It Takes a Village (click here for a talk by HB on the book). Whether or not you like Hillary’s politics, the sentiment is sure. Having a village to lean on, help, support, laugh and cry with has been a major blessing to me in raising my sons.

As they grow and leave home to make their own way, I am reminded that we are all children of God and my sons, my husband and I will always be connected. Our home gets enlarged to include more of their friends, their new experiences and even new locations. Home is redefined as "not a place, but a power." And I know that wherever they are, home is.





To share your thoughts on this or to explore this idea further, please feel free to be in contact with me, add your own comments below, email this article to a friend, or add to the healing finds and sites on the web to the right.