Returning home in time for Mother’s Day has been one of the highlights of this year. In fact, its not every year, that I had been in the States for Mother’s Day. To be accurate, it had been years since I had been back for this special holiday. Being overseas in Egypt, forced me to be creative in how I would give honor to my own mother, for the holiday. The fascinating thing about Mother’s Day is that it is a day of re-centering and meditating on the significance of Mother.
Who is mother? What are her responsibilities? What are the performances of Mother? Such are intriguing questions to examine. One of those pertaining to the different shapes, colors, behaviors, and actions, all housed in the realm of Motherhood. How she has the power to extend beyond borders, cultures, nationalities, racial differences, and other manners of differentiation. That motherhood, in all of its essence, has the potential to channel with many women, for the protection of all children on Earth. In Egypt, I began to see these profound effects on an international level. Motherhood is powerful! Mother is DIVINE!
As I reflect upon my different journeys in Cairo, Egypt, it was clear that my mother’s presence was there. That her prayers were working different wonders in my path, security, and experience. Mom was working within a number of Egyptian and international women, whom I recall showed up, during times of restless periods. In those moments when I did not feel that I could go on, my mother’s presence was there. There is something magical that takes place in mother’s prayers. Something intriguing, arising. A silent power. After all, its in silence where power truly takes place. This energy is rooted in creating life, and bringing that life to the visual eye. Seeing how the greatest strength of Mother is her ability to work quietly, while still taking care of her responsibilities. Many times we do not see that. The way in which mother works can be graceful and powerful. When mother is in her natural element, she is able to work, harmoniously, and interchangeably. There is a solid fluidity about her. One that is intriguing and inspiring. Her very presence, alone, has the power to, inspire! As long as mother is around, especially when it comes to the mothers of our particular cultures, our identity and sense of self, will always have, value!
I can only imagine those auras of worry. Those energies of concern in having her oldest daughter in another country. A distant land that had gone through its turbulent times. Moments when my mother wished I was with her, near. Her having that same level of proximity to me, as during my undergraduate years in Atlanta. I can only envision, Mom, and any level of anxiety she may have felt when hearing about the 2011 revolution in Egypt. The uncertainty of not knowing that I would be getting back or not. Nevertheless, her prayers continued to grow. Checking in and reminding me that family is loving me from, afar.
Sometimes you have to go far away, in order to get closer. Its a way of the Divine preparing us for the knowledge. Getting us attuned to hearing Mother when she is distant. Seeing symbols of her Being, and her Spirit, reflected through other people. Mother’s energy is powerful. Furthermore, it teaches us that there are various things about the Universe, bringing us into coherence with each other. It demonstrates that everything is intertwined. Things are interconnected. Every person’s life is interlinked, and in harmony, with each other. Even if Mother is not here, she is still able to find her way there, through other people. Through those who are connected to that Universal realm of artistry.
Then, of course, there are other ways in which women, Mother. There are those educators. The women bringing forth life, through education. They establish a world of beauty, love, and joy to future minds and the aesthetics of knowledge. Especially, during the younger years, these special educational mothers create a magical world of spark and euphoria. Shaping and bridging mental restoration to future minds, their primary job is to protect the curiousity of young children. Treating their minds as sponges of docility and sensitivity.
There are also those women, who take on mother’s Spirit for those precious Darlings, who do not have parents. They did not birth children of their own. Nevertheless, they were blessed enough to have taken on the mothering role for children without a biological mother. In this regard, they are not alone. They are cherished, as children should be. Too often such mothers are overlooked. Many times they are devalued and treated as “less than,” women, who are biological mothers. One of the joys of being part of this form of motherhood is how a woman is given different options and opportunities to, mother. There are many types of children, that such women can mother. Even if such Beings never see these children, again, they have still reared them. They have left a positive impact on these angels. And for that, they are forever, changed. Whether such women are elder voices in our communities, or those wise, independent women, choosing to give feminine energy, in different ways, they are still mothers.
Being home for Mother’s Day has given me the opportunity to reflect upon the protection of motherhood. Observing how she is represented in the flesh. She has been celebrated and illuminated in artistry, sculpture, design, and storytelling. Seeing representations of the Madonna and Child in my own culture, and in Egypt, were rather inviting! There was always a sense of protection, and life sustaining skills, surrounding their presence. And, is that not what life is about? Channeling and sustaining life’s nutritious elements, throughout the different environments, it inhabits. This is the way of, mother!
During this time of corona, returning home has also given me the opportunity to connect more with other mother figures of my family. Learning about familial her/history and continuing those traditions of passing down that knowledge. Re-planting those seeds and birthing, anew. There was simply something inspirational in being in mother’s home, for Mother’s Day! Something magnanimous about cooking in Mother’s home for that special time.
Mother’s Day 2020 was truly a reviving day. Spending the day calling different women, and men, in my family to wish them blessings on this day, was filled with discussions of endless memories. Catching up on what’s been happening, and simply feeling the feminine love in my family. Even those mother figures, and distant loved ones, who were not part of my immediate family, their love is also felt and near. Those mother figures, who made an impact on my educational and professional realms. They too, are connected to my celebration of, Mother. That Motherly Love! Near or far, she is mother. Across oceans and seas, she is mother. Throughout different genres and moments of time, she is mother. Mother is timeless, endless, and reflected in different periods of our lives. No matter the age, woman is mother. And, on that day, all of her was celebrated!
