EDITORIAL: Mothers' love shapes our lives and the world
May 9-Among his many memorable quotes, ancient Greek philosopher Plato reputedly said, "Give me a different set of mothers, and I will give you a different world."
The point, it seems, is that mothers shape our society through their nurturing, love and support. And so, some 25 centuries after Plato shared his wisdom for the ages, we honor those caring souls and acknowledge their contributions on Sunday with the annual observance of Mother's Day.
It is an American invention, this celebration of the indispensable role that mothers play in our lives. But it has spread to be celebrated in scores of countries in one form or another. Along the way, the meaning has changed a bit - if not the sentiment.
Anna Jarvis is credited with founding Mother's Day in the early 1900s, a fact that she came to lament late in life. While the tradition that Jarvis envisioned began with celebrants attending church and writing letters of thanks to their mothers, it eventually evolved into the commercialized endeavor we witness today.
As The Associated Press reported in 2008, "Jarvis became known for scathing letters in which she would berate people who purchased greeting cards, saying they were too lazy to write personal letters."
We will eschew Jarvis' despair today, choosing instead to focus on gratefulness for the remarkable duties mothers perform on a daily basis. They are nurses and teachers and chauffeurs and counselors and cooks and guardians, undertaking each duty out of a sense of love with little regard for personal gain.
Insure.com annually calculates a Mother's Day Index professing to quantify the work that mothers perform - without a salary, of course. Last year's index showed that the typical mom would justify an income of $145,236 - but Mom would be underpaid at any salary.
For many people, Mother's Day is an occasion for family gatherings and flowers and feasts and happy memories. But for those whose mothers are no longer with us - or for mothers who have lost children - it can be bittersweet.
It is for them that we offer a reminder: A mother's love and a mother's lessons can never die. Those attributes linger, not only influencing our lives but being passed along to future generations. As one unattributed quote says, "A mother's love is unconditional and everlasting, a force that shapes and nurtures life in ways words can scarcely capture."
In addition to being at a loss for words on Mother's Day, many of us also are at a loss for what to get Mom to express our gratitude. Past surveys have suggested that most mothers simply prefer to celebrate with the finer things in life: a clean house, sleep, a really good workout, a spa day or a day free of the "mom routine." And as an article at a personal finance website once summarized, "Honestly, your mom probably doesn't want the Mother's Day gift you bought her."
But just in case, seemingly every online retailer has recommendations for meaningful presents. The National Retail Federation estimates that Americans will spend a record $38 billion on Mother's Day this year.
As Mom has spent years teaching us, however, love does not come with a price tag. Nor can it be quantified. As another profound quote says, "Mothers are the people who love us for no good reason. And those of us who are mothers know it's the most exquisite love of all."
That is worth celebrating as we ponder how mothers shape our lives and the world around us in ways that cannot be explained.
Happy Mother's Day.
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