In the last post we considered acting on the invitation to see our moms as humans, who are flawed and miraculous, just like all of us. The encouragement was to try and see the world from their perspectives, and even get curious about our moms’ experience in raising us.
But if that all seems like a little too much for this Mother’s Day, for whatever reason, worry not. A simple “Thank You” will suffice. At the very least we can all agree that without our moms we wouldn’t be here, and at a minimum, a simple, humble, dignified “Thank You” is in order.
We can say thank you in private or in public. We can thank our moms across the brunch table or across the oceans and time zones. We can meditate on it. We can send thoughts of gratitude to our moms whether they are still living or not. We can honor the role they played in our birth, even if the rest of our relationship is tumultuous. There is always something to say thank you for, and in this case, we express gratitude for our very human existence, which, without our mom would be non-existent.
As Eckhart Tolle says, “If the only prayer you ever say is ‘Thank You’ it will be enough.”
Since these types of holidays can be over run with marketing, commercialism and distractions, let’s make sure we keep it simple. A moment, an hour or a day of gratitude is the deepest way to honor our moms today. However we spend this day, let’s just say “Thank You” and leave it at that.
Oh, and please pass the syrup!