Mothers for peace – the fast forgetting message of Mother’s day
Mother’s day should take on a new connotation. Let the mothers of our country consider this day as one in which they express their solidarity and pressurize that peace becomes a reality echoing the words of Julia Howe ‘From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice.” Blood does not wipe our dishonour, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace… ‘
By Manel Abhayaratna
Mother’s day which is celebrated in the West usually on the second Sunday in May is considered by most Sri Lankans as another fanciful celebration introduced by the advertising media to increase the sales of personalized gifts, cards and hotel events ostensibly to honour and show affection to mothers
Essentially in our country mothers do not really need a special day on which to declare our affection and respect . Almost all our traditional customs recognize the importance of the mother and the essential role she plays both in the formation of the character of her children and as the custodian and educator of moral values.
Unfortunately the concepts of feminism has brought in newer views which attempt to give greater emphasis to the role of a woman in the economic context rather in her unique role of a caring and nurturing individual. It is in this context that the significance of Mother’s day takes on a different aspect .
Mother’s day was proclaimed not merely as a celebration for gift giving or appreciation but it was a recognition of the role of a mother as an individual concerned with the well being and safety of her children. It was a day when women were not merely celebrating motherhood and the act of bearing children, but they were proclaiming the essential meaning of life from of what they had learned for the pain, suffering and joy of childbirth.
In order to understand this aspect of Mother’s day it is necessary to consider the reasons behind the proclamation of a Mother’s day in the USA. The woman credited with founding Mother’s Day is Anna Jarvis.. She was inspired by her mother, Anna Reeves Jarvis who organized “Mothers’ Work Day Clubs” in the 1850’s in the area. The clubs provided medicines for the poor, milk for the deprived children, and provided nursing care for the sick, and shelters for children with tuberculosis. When the Civil War broke out in the USA she called together a number of her clubs and requested them to pledge that friendship and good will would not be a casualty of the war. As an answer to her plea and with a remarkable display of courage and compassion the women in these clubs nursed soldiers from both sides of the conflict .
After the war Anna Reeves Jarvis became a genuine peace maker and since there was suspicion, fear and a lack of understanding in the families who fought on either side she organized “Mothers’ Friendship Days” to bring together the affected families. Two years after her death her daughter Anna Jarvis organized the first “mothers’ day” in Grafton, so that the work of peacemaking and the war against poverty which her mother waged would not be forgotten. Julia Ward Howe was another woman who promoted the idea of a Mother’s Day. She too saw the tragic effects of the civil war in America and the impact it had on the lives of the ordinary people. When the war was over she focused her attention on two other causes: voting rights for women, and world peace especially since in Europe the war between Prussia and France was taking a tremendous toll of young lives . It was this tragedy that compelled her to ask , “Why do not the mothers of mankind interfere in these matters to prevent the waste of that human life of which they alone know and bear the cost?…. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women on this day leave the duties of hearth and home to set out in the work of peace.” She began organizing what she called “Mothers’ Peace Day” festivals which were celebrated annually on June 2nd. Her basic conviction was that though the world may be divided by war and conflict, there is something in the experience of childbirth binding the mothers of the world together into one family. It is this aspect of the common thread of unity and solidarity that binds all mother’s together, that is the essential feature of mother’s day.
It could be seen that this day was not the kind of advertised sentimental occasion but rather it was a call for all mothers united in their motherhood to join together and use their special gifts to nurture peace and reconciliation. The struggle to gain voting rights for women, the cause of peace among the nations of the world, the fight against poverty and the abuse of children, these were the central concerns of those who established Mother’s Day. From the beginning this was a day not simply to remember one’s own mother, but to find in the experience of such active, courageous mothers, lessons that apply to all.
In this context Mother’s day is not merely just a day for emotional celebrations by children recognizing the love , care and compassion of their own mothers, but it is a day in which the mothers themselves should consider the unity of motherhood , and make unite in their understanding of the plight of mothers who suffer for the sake of their family and their children. As Charlotte Gray has said ;`Becoming a mother makes you the mother of all children. From now on each wounded, abandoned, frightened child is yours. You live in the suffering mothers of every race and creed and weep with them. You long to comfort all who are desolate”.
It is a day that should create in women a greater understanding of the sadness of those mothers who due to economic circumstances are forced to leave their children and seek employment abroad and of their own mothers who watch their children leave to destinations unknown and often dangerous.
It should awaken compassion for the mothers who suffer as a consequence of the present conflict, and unite all mothers in the condemnation of the use of women suicide bombers, particularly the use of the woman in the recent attack on the Army commander ,who is said to have been pregnant. If that were so the powers that assigned her to that brutal task showed the contempt they had for motherhood.
Mothers regardless of their ethnicity must unite to voice their rejection of child recruitment and all forms of violence connected with the present conflict in which their children are the final victims.
Mother’s day should take on a new connotation.
Let the mothers of our country consider this day as one in which they express their solidarity and pressurize that peace becomes a reality echoing the words of Julia Howe, ‘From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with Our own. It says: “Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice. Blood does not wipe our dishonour, nor violence indicate possession. As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war, let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel. Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead. Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means whereby the great human family can live in peace… ‘ [Source: Daily Mirror]
