Mother's Day 2006, Take 2
by Bobbie Wrenn Banks

What if mothers were the ones who composed Mother’s Day cards?

The moms I know would jump at the chance. And we’d do the job very differently.

Sure, we appreciate the nice sentiments in traditional Mother’s Day cards; it is true that we offer unconditional love, give kisses for booboos, and spit clean our children’s noses; but that’s hardly the whole of it.

Being a mom does mean we keep the home and hearth; but it also makes us keenly aware of the state of the world – and calls us to seek peace and work for justice. Children ask the world of us. Mothers understand that. Our cards would reflect it.

Just imagine what the rack would look like:

“This Mother’s Day, let’s bring our families back together.”
Opens to “Support Our Troops: Bring Them Home”:
The card pictures U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq. There is a sense of hope, promise, the possibility of a future. Heads are held high with the strength that comes from looking with honesty and intelligence at a war that is not the answer, and summoning the courage to change course.

“What will we leave our children?”
Opens to “Debt is a rotten legacy.”
Our national debt is escalating dramatically, and the people who will have to pay it off are not even able to vote yet! But it’s not too late. We can still save our federal budget.

“How do you spell hope this Mother’s Day?”
Opens to: “D-A-R-F-U-R”
The letters run vertically down a tall card. Each letter issues a call.
D. Darfur needs you.
A. Act Now.
R. Recognize the magnitude of this tragedy. 3.5 million people are hungry. 2.5 million have been displaced. 400,000 have died.
F. Feed the people. The UN World Food Program recently announced that food rations for Darfur will be half the minimum amount required each day.
U. Urge your elected officials to do more. INFO: www.savedarfur.org/action/lobby.
R. Remember prior indifference. US intervention in other humanitarian disasters would have saved lives.

And one more:
An old photo of a woman from an earlier era.
Opens to the words of poet and activist Julia Ward Howe, who founded Mother’s Day in 1872.
“Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
Stunned by the devastation of the Civil War, Julia Ward Howe founded Mother’s Day for Peace as a rallying point for women to come together to end war.

These are some of the cards that mothers would produce. And they would surely find a market. Because this is a dire moment, and it is time for all of us who care – for each other, for children, for our troops, for the poor and hungry – to find our voice. And to act. There is no time to spare.

Motherhood is the most powerful force on earth – powerful enough to give all our children a bountiful world. Wouldn’t you like to receive a Mother’s Day card with that message?