Wrapped In Mother Love
For thus saith the
Lord,
Behold I will extend
peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the
Gentiles like a flowing stream:
then shall ye suck,
ye shall be borne upon
her sides,
and be dandled upon
her knees.
As one whom his mother
comforteth,
so will I comfort you;
and ye shall be
comforted in Jerusalem.
-- Isaiah 66:12,13
I saw a young mother embracing her
newborn son this past week. He was brought to her squalling, but in an instant,
as her arms gently encircled him and her face hovered right over his, murmuring
softly, his little puckered-up Winston Churchill face went quiet and content.
Everything else fell away - the headlines, the weather, gas prices, politics.
The two of them were enraptured and complete.
It brings a lump to your throat,
that pure, simple and beautiful thing called mother love. None of us can ever
quite get enough, and there's nothing more pleasurable to give. It's how God
wants us to feel when we spend time with Him - warm and wrapped up, safe and
sound, held close and tended to. No wonder the nickname of God's Holy Spirit is
"The Comforter." That's just what He's like - soft and yet firm, warm and yet light,
like a comforter. Like a mother's arms.
I heard a story recently that
illustrates this. It was told by a friend who attended a quilt show in another
city, and was fascinated by a story about a half a quilt. A half a quilt, you
ask? Therein lies the tale:
It seems there was a young mother,
many years ago, who died giving birth to her second child, a daughter. The
father became despondent that the infant would never know anything about her
mother other than the few pictures and mementoes he had. How would this child
feel her mother's love? How would she experience the closeness and comfort of
her mother's touch?
So he had a wonderful idea: he
brought his late wife's wedding gown to a quilter, and asked that she make a comforter
out of it. Nothing represented her beauty and essence better than that gown. It
was what she wore on the day she was at her very best. That's how he wanted to
remember her, and that's how he wanted her children to think of her. They could
wrap up in it, and know what she was like.
So the quilter pieced together a
crazy quilt with all different shapes and sizes of fabric. It was all in white
satin, with lace and beading left in place for beauty and sparkle. The quilter
added light and warm cotton batting inside, with a soft and plain underside. It
formed a beautiful, warm and airy comforter, just the right size for a young
child's bed.
But then the unthinkable happened. A
few years later, the little daughter got sick and died, too. It was so hard for
that father to bury the poor little motherless child in the cold, hard ground.
But he had an idea: why not bury her
in the quilt? It was beautiful and suitable. But what about the older daughter?
Didn't she have a right to the heirloom as well?
So he did the only thing he could:
he cut the quilt in half. Half was wrapped lovingly around the little girl going
into her grave so young. The other half stayed with the older daughter, to sustain
her through the rest of her life. She would live it without her mother or her
sister - but still connected with them both, through the quilt.
You can imagine the joy in heaven when
they were all reunited. What was cut apart was complete again. They were all
reunited in the ultimate comfort of their heavenly home.
No wonder people are so touched by
the display of that half a quilt. As with any work of art, it's not the thing
itself that has meaning and beauty: it's what it stands for.
Mother love, pure and simple.
When you wrap yourself around a
child, God is wrapping Himself around you both. Lightly, firmly and warmly,
you're covered, safe and sound, held close and tended to . . . forever and
ever. †
--------------------
Special Mother's Day prayers for all
those mothers who are separated from their children,
especially because of military
service on behalf of your fellow Americans.
May you feel the Comforter's arms
encircling you both, today and always.
