[Magdalen] Rescuing Mother's Day from the greedy

[Suzie Buchanan]

Wish I had this while sermon prepping last week!  I did a lot with Daniel
Berrigan (and the Acts lesson of disciples in prison and the Gospel of
Jesus' prayer that he be in us like the father in him . . . and that
oneness being what we need post-ascension to be brave enough to take stands
and face prison, etc)  I tend to not preach on "Mother's Day", but that
Mother's Day for Peace would have worked in beautifully!

Susan

On Sun, May 8, 2016 at 11:14 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>