The Messenger - The Gift any Mother will Cherish

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Thursday, 28 August 2008

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The Gift any Mother will Cherish

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Written by Nora Oppenheimer

Mother’s Day
was meant to be
a day that
gave mothers a
voice to end war
and conflict.

As Mother’s day approaches, many are sending a greeting card or flowers to their mother and calling in reservations for Sunday Brunch May 11. Here at Lotus of Light, we see countless gift certificates purchased by loving family members who want to treat their moms and wives to a much deserved massage.

I was surprised to learn that Mother’s Day exists in America mostly due to patriot, Ann Maria Reeves Jarvis, who organized women during the Civil War to tend to wounded soldiers on both sides of the conflict. The Civil War is unique in that it accounted for more casualties than all other U.S. wars combined and it is marked by the irony that brothers would often have to fight against one another. Jarvis was famous for her work unifying mothers of Civil War soldiers from The North and The South and was a huge proponent for the creation of a “Mother’s Day” holiday.

When Ann Marie Reeves Jarvis died in 1905, her daughter Ann Jarvis took the torch and pursued her Mom’s dream to fruition and was key in lobbying President Wilson to, in 1914, establish a national Mother’s Day holiday intended to promote pacifism and social activism. Mother’s Day was meant to be a day that gave mothers a voice to end war and conflict.

Ann Jarvis is also responsible for linking the carnation flower to the holiday when she began to wear a white carnation (her mother’s favorite flower) in honor of her Mom on Mother’s Day. She battled the flower industry for years because of what she saw as the commercialization and dumbing-down of an extremely serious political holiday.

It is apropos to learn this information in the shadow of the 5 year anniversary of the war in Iraq. Considering the complexities of this global society, now, any war is much like the Civil War––one of kin against kin. And just as in any war throughout the centuries, any casualty represents the loss of some Mother’s child.

It is my hope that this Mother’s Day, we consider the unique meaning of this American holiday, rally around the bond we all have as children of one humanity, consider the cost of violence, and send out our prayers, wishes, intentions and gratitude for the blessing of life on Earth.

“So when the great word ‘Mother!’
rang once more,
I saw at last its meaning and its place;
Not the blind passion of the brooding past,
But Mother--the World’s Mother
--come at last,
To love as she had never loved before--
To feed and guard and teach
the human race.”
––Charlotte Perkins Gilman

NORA OPPENHEIMER is owner of Lotus of Light Massage and Global Wellness Boutique and Lotusbaby; support for the childbearing year. She is a second generation birth and postpartum Doula, certified Massage Therapist, Writer and Fine Artist who holds the philosophy that the wellbeing of the entire family, community and ultimately society is necessary to nurture the development of children to their highest potential.
Lotus of Light is located at
526 E. Route 66, Glendora CA 91740
http://www.lotusoflight.com
http://www.lotusbabydoulas.com

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