[Magdalen] Rescuing Mother's Day from the greedy

[James Oppenheimer-Crawford]

This morning our rector, Chuck Kramer, gave a fantastic perspective on what
Mothers' Day truly was meant to mean.  For one thing, the Americans who
came up with the idea envisioned a view that affirmed all women, not merely
those who had children. Much of this is springboarding off his ideas.

A major source of Mothers' Day was activism from folks like Julia Ward
("mine eyes have seen") Howe and Ann Reeves Jarvis, who saw mothers' Day as
a tonic for the ruin that men make of the running of the world in general.
Both were sickened by the awesome toll the Civil War took on so many --
especially on mothers whose sons were forever taken from them.

This link will show some terrific material to shed light on the history of
Mothers' Day.

http://www.peace.ca/mothersdayproclamation.htm

When I read that Julia Ward Howe envisioned a Mothers' Day For Peace (early
June), I thought this woman was way ahead of her time ( or we were all just
plain backward)

Women tried to push the idea of a Pothers' Day for Peace, but of course
congress would not go along.  After all, how many Mothers were there in
that stinking body?

Ann's daughter pushed the holiday as a memorial to her mother, and
eventually she was successful, but she was horrified at how shallow and
material it became.

Reading Howe's Proclamation (see the link above) is chilling, considering
what might have been, what still might be.

Perhaps if the men would give up their hubris and get out of the way....


James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy