Here’s an extra post for you this week, for Mothering Sunday. Taken from my book Calling Venus, it takes as its starting point the sight of a mother struggling with a fractious child, and moves from that to explore what a mother’s love has to teach us also of the love of God.
The harassed mother
She struggled with the screaming child,
juggling the shopping with one hand,
the pushchair with the other,
striving to offer comfort as best she could,
but all too conscious of the countless tasks still to do,
the duties of another day yet to be completed.
And I realised suddenly
how easily we take mothers for granted,
forgetting the love that brought us into being,
that has nurtured and sustained us,
comforting, encouraging, teaching and protecting,
day after day,
year after year.
I take you for granted, Lord,
forgetting the way you hold me in your arms,
as a mother cradles her child;
the way you teach, provide, comfort and lead,
always there when I need you most.
Help me to respond,
not just today but every day,
in grateful and loving service.
Amen.