Ode to my Mother

I find that with another year has come another Mother's Day, and I'm once again contemplating what it means to be a  Mother and truly appreciate my Mother. We have all heard the countless talks on the divine roll of Motherhood and the effort required to rear children with the unconditional love unparalleled by all but the Savior. And that is what I'd like to focus on: the unconditional love of the Savior being endowed upon the head of all Mothers.

Rudyard Kipling once wrote:

If I were hanged on the highest hill,
Mother o' Mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose love would follow me still,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were drowned in the deepest sea,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose tears would come down to me,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!

If I were damned of body and soul
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!
I know whose prayers would make me whole,
Mother o' mine, O mother o' mine!


If we reread the poem and put in 'Savior' instead of 'Mother' the message remains the same. Why, in the make-up of our being as mothers, would the Father bestow on us the defining characteristic of the God Head: infinite and unconditional love? We as women have been entrusted with an errand of the utmost importance. We are to rear the precious souls of God's children, in other words, we are to change the world. "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Alma 37:6-7. We are the means by which to raise a righteous generation, to mold the valiant spirits we are given into Disciples of Christ.

This is what my mother has taught me. In the heart of my Mother, you find all the love, worries, and good intentions one heart can hold. You'll find never-ending prayers and the unparalleled willingness to do whatever we needed and sacrifice everything she loved for our well-being. And I can truly say with the Stripling Warriors, "We do not doubt our Mother's knew it." Alma 56:48.

I know that by coming to know the love of a Mother we come to understand the love of the Savior. I know the Savior gives a special ear to the prayers of Mothers. One mother can, through the lives of her children, change the world. Mothers are the backbone of all legends and all great men and women. I'm so grateful for my Mother and all that I am today because of what she has taught me.

I love you, Mom.

-Natalie Cherie