Dr. Barclay with Something to Think About - MOTHERS

MOTHERS 

Honour your Father and Mother

Thus begins the fifth commandment which in its entirety reads:

Honour your father and your mother, 

that your days may be long upon the land 

which the Lord your God is giving you. 

(Exodus 20:12) 

Mother’s Day was first instituted by Anna Jarvis who sought to honour her own mother. It was first celebrated in a memorial service at Andrews Methodist Episcopal Church in 1908 and became, in the US, a national holiday about six years later. Unfortunately, the concept of a day to honour one’s mother soon became so commercialized and overtaken by gift giving that the founder of the day was essentially asking for the holiday to be removed from the calendar and Jarvis denounced the very holiday she had herself established.

Does this not seem to be the case with many of the days, rightly or wrongly, that have been chosen to commemorate events both historically and religiously? Even though the date may not be correct, December 25 has still been used to celebrate Christ’s birth, and Easter, His death and resurrection. Yet these days, along with others, have become so commercialized that the original purpose for the day has all been but forgotten.

And so it is as well with the day chosen to honour mothers. It has become another time to purchase candy, flowers, jewellery, or something else. There is nothing wrong with purchasing gifts, but how often are such items placed in substitute for the real thing - the honouring of mothers and what they have done and continue to do for us each day?

When the commandment above was first given, women were felt to have no real place in society other than to be property for the male. They had no legal rights as such, no social standing, and were really considered just property. For God to give a law recognizing both sexes as equal and requiring honour was probably a new concept for the Hebrew nation. In fact, in many places in the Bible where the word father is used it really refers to both the father and mother as parents. 

So therefore, throughout the year mothers should be truly honoured, not just with candy and flowers but with the love, respect, and consideration they deserve. And if that is done then one can say that the fifth commandment has been upheld and that the chance of…

 

your days [being] long upon the land which

the Lord your God [has given] you

may come to fruition because you have given

Honour [to] your father and mother.

Always something to think about.