Last year at Church, I was asked to speak as part of the Mother's Day program. The specific topic given me was "Mothers in the Scriptures". So, here is as I wrote it, though not how I likely presented it. I have a bad habit of getting into the presentation and saying other stuff. I had one friend say it was me getting full of the Spirit but, while that is possible, I knowing myself and it is probably just adrenaline. Before the rest, I do need to say how much I appreciate my own mom and my wife, the two mothers in my life. My mom (and my dad too) has shown me what it is to me committed to the Savior. Everything they do is with a desire to put Him first. My wife has come into my world as the love of my life and has been the source of many blessings from the Lord. Our meeting was a miracle, our first child was a miracle, and the one coming is a miracle. My scientific background reminds me that low probability circumstances can occur but to have so many improbable things happen would make even the staunchest atheist wonder at my luck. Though I know it isn't luck, I do sometimes question, "why me". With so many hardships people encounter, why has the Lord blessed me such? I will never be able to repay Him. I hope my life can reflect His glory to help others also have hope.------------- Given Mother's Day 2004 ---------------
There are so many wonderful mothers in the scriptures that could be discussed -- brief glimpses of righteous women fulfilling the callings given to them by Heavenly Father. Mothers before they have children, mothers to a community, mothers preparing to be mothers, mothers to prophets, and many many nameless mothers we will never know but whose influence was seen. These are the lessons we learn from the mothers in the scriptures.
FIRST, A MOTHER IS GREATER THAN HAVING CHILDREN IN THE HOME
In Moses 4:26, we read: "And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living." The “mother of all living.” Notice that this was before they were driven from the garden; she was a mother even before having children. This title of Mother is given to women as a divine right, not as a result of the children they have born.
SECOND, A MOTHER IS A MOTHER OUTSIDE HER HOME – IN THIS CASE, A MOTHER TO A NATION
While Israel was in captivity, Esther was chosen to be queen to the King of Persia because of her beauty. Haman, chief man at the King’s court, obtained a decree to put all Jews to death. When Esther learned of this she secretly sent word to her adopted father in
Esther. 4:16--
Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
At great personal risk, Esther violated law by going to the king without being summoned and revealed her own nationality to the king. Because of her courage, she eventually obtained reversal of the decree. As it reads in the
Bible Dictionary’s description of Esther: “exhibiting a very high level of courage, loyalty, and patriotism.” Esther, though without children we know of, was a mother to the nation of Israel. She knew that her role as a woman must extend beyond the bounds of her home.
THIRD, A MOTHER PREPARES HERSELF FROM AN EARLY AGE TO RAISE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
The perfect example of this is Mary, the mother of Christ. What a wonderful women – what a wonderful YOUNG woman. When the angel comes to her, she is about the age of our Mia Maids at church (14-15). The scriptures imply that she was a good young woman and had prepared for her calling throughout her life -- even though she could not have known what the Lord had planned for her (do we ever?). Let me just throw out some scriptures from Luke. I will not expound them.
From an
angel, "hail, thou that are highly favoured, the lord is with thee". After a most startling and awesome message,
her reply is: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word.
She shows us the perfect example of a mother in training.
FOURTH, WE SEE EXAMPLES THROUGHOUT THE SCRIPTURES OF MOTHERS OF PROPHETS.
Then let’s consider Elisabeth the cousin of Mary, the mother John the Baptist. In this story, an example is set for the childless mothers. But I would like to look specifically at the personal spirituality of this woman. (
Luke 1:41-43)
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
She had lived her life such that she had cultivated a relationship with the Spirit; she could recognize the Spirit’s promptings. At this time, she was given the gift of prophesy. What better qualifications for the mother a prophet, the mother of the forerunner and preparer of the way for Jesus Christ.
So, how do you raise a prophet? Well one aspect seems the necessity of a relationship with the spirit, of course. But I really don’t know. However, I did raid my wife’s Journal and got a glimpse of at least the possibilities. I read, with her’s permission, something she wrote. To set this up, she wrote this after the emotional/spiritual rollercoaster of being told by doctors that children were not likely but then suddenly finding that we were expecting a boy. We had prayed for this for so long that we even had a name. In her’s words (though somewhat modified for online posting):
“I feel such hope that this child who has been entrusted to me is beloved by a Heavenly Father and Elder Brother (Jesus, as the Son of God) who know me and will help me learn those things I need to learn in order to be the type of mother that [our son] needs. I feel such a sense of responsibility; my actions, my growth, my striving all of these things will in part determine whether my son will qualify to be the servant that the Lord needs him to be.
There was a passage in yesterday's Church lesson in which President Harold B. Lee said, "When I think of the process by which a man comes to leadership position in the Church, I think of my own experience for thirty-one and a half years, and all the circumstances which have come in my own life what an overwhelming training program!"
As I read this, I was struck again by the magnitude of my calling as a mother. I've often wondered in my heart what service [my son] will give to the Kingdom of God. What does the Lord need me to help him learn? I suppose it sounds prideful to even suppose that my calling as a mother could compare to that of the mother of a prophet, but I wonder if any mother could really imagine that her little boy will someday be in that role. But if [Elisabeth the cousin of Mary] hadn't been the righteous, humble mother that she was, would John have been able to fulfill his role? So wouldn't it be better to treat each of my children as if he/she is a prophet/prophetess in training? If I do that, won't I take each day that much more seriously?
“It's incredible to me what a total con job Satan has played on women today, that we've been made to feel like our value as a person is measured by what we do outside the home, rather than what we do with the children we've been given.”
This year in Relief Society and Priesthood, we have been studying the teachings of the Prophet Heber J. Grant. Did his mother know what her son would be? Like my wife, she had to have known – not that he would someday lead the church – but that he was a child of God, one with the eternities ahead. And she did this as a single mother, widowed at a young age. As I have read about Heber J. Grant, I am amazed that he came from a place that society seems to say is condemned to failure, a very impoverished, single-parent home.
THE SINGLE MOTHERS
Are there other single mothers in the scriptures?
I request some patience while I set this one up. I want you to think of the most commonly discussed story in the Book of Mormon at Mother’s day. Of course, that would be the 2000 stripling warriors of Helaman. Remember that the war between the Nephites and Lamanites had become very serious and the Nephites were fighting enemies of freedom and righteousness both from outside their country and inside their own cities. Simultaneously, they were defending the people of Ammon – former Lamanites who had covenanted with the Lord, as a part of repenting for their horrible sins, to take up weapons of war again.
Now, we know of the 2000 young men who were either too young or had not been born yet and thereby didn’t take the oath took up the cause of liberty.
What kind of young men were these?
Helaman tells us:
47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.
48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.
Alma 57:19-2119 But behold, my little band . . . fought most desperately; yea, they were firm before the Lamanites, and did administer death unto all those who opposed them.
20 And as the remainder of our army were about to give way before the Lamanites, behold, [they] were firm and undaunted.
21 Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.
Now you have heard that before. But why were these young men like this? Consider the spiritual legacy they had been given. Years before the People of Ammon came to the Nephites, more than 1000 had been slain by the unconverted Lamanites who hated them, yet they held unwaveringly to the covenant they had made; one other time, many more were killed. Later, when they lived among the Nephites, the People of Ammon accepted the converted Zoramites – even when they were threatened by those unconverted Zoramites. These youth had been shown spiritual courage.
Now I am going to speculate a little. I want you to think about this. If people were coming to kill you and your family, who would (and should) be the first to meet the aggressors – likely the fathers? Suggestions are given that it was brethren who were killed. So it’s probable that the men were disproportionably killed. This leads me to speculate that there were many fatherless homes in this group of the people of Ammon. Then how many of the wonderful young men just discussed grew up in single mother homes? Did they have help? Most assuredly since this was a people devoted to the gospel. And our own single mothers also have help if we all do our part – Home and Visiting Teachers, Primary, Sunday school, Young Men and Young Women programs. Nonetheless, these young men had good mothers. Mothers who taught them pure faith and values.
CONCLUSIONS AND THE UNNAMED MOTHERS
I have talked about the values in a future mother, a young mother to be, the mother of a prophet, the mother of a nation, the single mother, now I want to talk about the unnamed mothers.
Consider Captain Moroni who was the leader of the Nephite armies at a young age. After nearly 16 years of war, he comes home and delivers the command of the armies to his son Moronihah. Moronihah not only led his people in battle, but he was a spiritual leader and teacher – a contemporary to brothers Nephi and Lehi in teaching the gospel. With his father Moroni gone so much, who raised Moronihah in the Gospel?
How about Alma the Younger, who was so busy with the concerns of his people that he gave up the Chief Judgeship to preach the gospel? He preaches all over, surely spending a great deal of time away from home (never sitting with his family during Sacrament Meeting) – but he has three boys at least, two were amazing and the third, after some admonition, turns out well too. So who raised them in the Gospel while Alma was gone so much?
Then there is Limhi, the son of wicked King Noah. We are told that he is a just king and admits his father’s wickedness while his father is alive. Limhi grew up with wickedness all around him, yet he was a just man who recognized the truth. Where did he learn such values? Values like that are taught, even if unheeded, in one’s youth.
Finally, let’s remember Mormon, the prophet historian who compiled most of the compiled Book of Mormon. Speaking of his time,
Mormon 1:13-1513But wickedness did prevail upon the face of the whole land, insomuch that the Lord did take away his beloved disciples, and the work of miracles and of healing did cease because of the iniquity of the people.
14 And there were no gifts from the Lord, and the Holy Ghost did not come upon any, because of their wickedness and unbelief.
15 And I, being fifteen years of age and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted and knew of the goodness of Jesus.
He continues in
chapter 2…1 And it came to pass in that same year there began to be a war again between the Nephites and the Lamanites. And notwithstanding I being young, was large in stature; therefore the people of Nephi appointed me that I should be their leader, or the leader of their armies.
2 Therefore it came to pass that in my sixteenth year I did go forth at the head of an army of the Nephites, against the Lamanites; therefore three hundred and twenty and six years had passed away.
After beating back their enemies he
continues…1 And it came to pass that the Lamanites did not come to battle again until ten years more had passed away. And behold, I had employed my people, the Nephites, in preparing their lands and their arms against the time of battle.
My point is, he was quite distracted with the destruction of his people which he would eventually nearly completely witness. Sometime during this, he married and had at least one son, Moroni. Who raised Moroni in the Gospel – who raised him in the wicked unsettling world that he grew up in – who raised him while his father Mormon was out fighting and working for the protection of an entire nation?
The unnamed mothers… they raised the prophets so that we could have the gospel. Their unnamed actions blessed us all.
May we learn to both see and treat each other and the children of the new generations as we ought – even more than potential prophets, but as children of God with unlimited potential. What does a mother do? She sees all people as a child of someone, a child of someone who at one time was excited to have them in their home. A true mother sees all people with even greater worth than this – that is as a child of God. A true mother is a mother to be, a mother to a nation, a mother to a neighbor, even a single mother at times, the list goes on.
Finally, my hope and prayer is that that world be full of the unnamed mothers…
