An Article of Faith

  Exactly 101 years ago this coming Sunday we celebrated the long held “Mother’s Day Tradition.” Ever wonder where this treasured tradition comes from?

  According to one source a day set aside to honor mothers was the suggestion of Anna M. Jarvis of Philadelphia, Pa. She wanted to honor her mother and all mothers. Anna never married and was very close to her mother, who faithfully taught Sunday school for 20 years and passed away May 9, 1905.

  The first “Mother’s Day” church service was held on May 10, 1908, in her mother’s hometown of Grafton, W.Va.

  Then, six years later, in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation making Mother’s Day a national observance, “as a public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.”

  For some reason today many look down on the exalted position of motherhood. According to the Bible, there is no higher calling a woman can receive than that of being a mother. Why? Because no one exercises more influence in the lives of others than mothers!

  In 2 Timothy 1:5 the apostle Paul accredits the sincerity of Timothy’s Christian faith directly to his grandmother and mother: “For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.”

  No one works more closely with God in the lives of others than mothers. After all, Abraham Lincoln said, “All that I am and all that I shall be, I owe to my mother.”

  Truly, the old adage still rings true: “The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world.”

  Jessie J. Charpentier Sr. is pastor of Jenkins Memorial Baptist Church in St. Martinville.