Mom

Mom. Mother. Mama. Moeder. Ma. Nene. Meme. Ahm. Mai. Matka. Mader. Meder. Mamm. Majka. Matre. Mamma. Bata. Mara. Mati. Mor. Moeder. Mutter. Mana. Maji. Madre. Mare. Mae. Matu'a.

In languages the world over, the words for "Mom" and, similarly for Dad, all incorporate one or more of the earliest-developing lingual sounds: /m/, /p/, /b/, /n/, /d/, and /t/ with /m/ perhaps being the most common.

Is it any surprise that the people whose roles in an infant's life have the most bearing on their survival and nurture, are called by names that the infant can produce earliest?

In the LDS culture the woman's divine role as Mother is revered.  From The Family: A Proclamation to the World:  By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children.  In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners.

So what happens when parents fail to uphold their responsibilities to their children? The Proclamation continues:  We warn that individuals... who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God.

Its in God's hands. He alone is responsible for Justice, and He alone can relieve my pain.  Over the years I have felt the healing hand of the Lord in my life.  And yet, when my new visiting teacher said to me "My Mom sucks" in the same tone as if she were reporting on the weather, a gigantic grin spread across my face as I replied in kind, "I have experience with that" and felt a flutter in my heart at the potential discovering of a kindred spirit.

I wrote Emotional Rh Factor a number of years ago.  While it no longer stirs the same feelings of pain that it once did and I would never seek to hurt my mother with its message, I find it a therapeutic writing because it expresses a need for separation to stem the flow of poison. And yet there is hope because of the Savior's Resurrection that all things, including familial relationships, may one day be restored to their good and proper order.

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Duffy