Tender Benediction
May 7, 2021
Go into your week,
knowing that you are embraced by the love of God;
a love that is sweeter and more tender
than any you have ever known.
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Go into your week,
knowing that you are embraced by the love of God;
a love that is sweeter and more tender
than any you have ever known.
Loving God, we give thanks today for mothers!
Thank you for mothers who gave birth to us,
and women who have treated us as their own children.
Thank you for good mothers,
cherishing and protecting the children among us.
This pandemic year has been particularly challenging for mothers
who have had to cope with more togetherness, and less support.
Help them mother lovingly, fairly, wisely and with great joy.
And Jesus said, “Come!”
To all mothers and all children: he said, “Come!”
to the motherless and the childless: he said, “Come!”
to all who long to be mothered: he said, “Come!
Come unto me all you who labour and are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble of heart
and you will find rest for your souls.”
This Mother’s Day is different, God.
So many cannot visit their
beloved mothers or grandmothers,
or the women who have been like mothers.
People feel so lonely because their hands
are not held, their arms cannot hug.
Other families have had too much togetherness,
and the past year has been tumultuous
with tantrums and fights and frayed tempers,
and too many words said too quickly.
Maternal God
you conceive us
give birth to us
nurse us
smile at us every day
protect us
feed us
give us words to say
show us how to walk
cheer for us in our successes
wipe our tears when we fail….
Mothering God,
thank you for giving us life and breath on this most beautiful of days!
The sun beams out praise!
The leaves unfurl their green hallelujahs!
The nesting birds join the spring song of praise!
Buried in the soil, seeds leap upward at your command!
The glory of your goodness bursts out all around us,
our hearts overflow with your presence!
Today we say thank you for all who are nurturing life.
For those who give birth or adopt,
for those who cook and clean,
for those who change diapers and do laundry,
for those who listen and encourage,
t doesn’t always go as planned.
Bowled over with newborn love,
the way ahead seems clear and untroubled,
devotion deep and wide enough
to weather any storm.
So we say a prayer, Darling Mother,
for when the crying baby
will not be comforted,
and the night knows what
we want to do.
We say a prayer for when we
reach for the tantruming toddler,…
It’s not easy to trace the tears,
the gaping holes where mothering
went wrong.
I can point to the withering look
that day at the dinner table
when I took my father’s attention.
Or maybe the stoney face
accusing me of losing something precious,
my protests unheard.
Or the subtle manipulations;
the distaste for what I wore,
the way I looked, laughed, talked.
I saw you coming to the front door,
We all have one.
She goes by different names:
mom, mama, mummy,
my mother, my birth mother,
the woman who bore me.
We may know her intimately,
or she may be just a name.
But it was she who carried us,
nurtured us with her body,
gave birth to us
and launched us into this wide world….
I am a Mennonite pastor currently teaching theology at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, Ontario. I’ve served congregations in Ontario and most recently, Alberta.
I love to write and to lead worship! If you are finding my writing helpful, I would love to hear from you! Feel free to use or adapt the material here, it is all written by me. If printing material, please credit “Copyright Carol Penner www.leadinginworship.com” (and say whether you modified it). If publishing, please contact me for permission. Contact me at carol@leadinginworship.com
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