My mother said, “Put your coat on; it’s cold outside.” My mother said, “Eat your supper; children around the world are starving.” My mother said, “Clean up your room; get those dust bunnies before they jump on your bed.” Before she passed, my mother said, “You have to grow up more quickly now. Take care of your dad and brother.” At her grave site, I could still hear my mother say, “Always remember your are a child of God.”
I hear her voice in everything I do. When I counsel my students, her voice resonates in my soul. My eyes brim with tears as I hear her voice when I sing, “Silent Night,” on Christmas Eve. When I look at our American flag, I feel her patriotism flowing through my heart. I hear her loving voice as I walk with my dog or cat; “All God’s creatures deserve your love.” I understand her fears for a good future as I watch anger, hatred, violence, and pain being played out on the nightly news. “When will peace reign in our country and the world?” I hear her concerned voice when I think about the impeachment of a president who thinks he’s above the law.
The plans for our lives were determined by God before we were born. As I struggle with the world we live in today compared with the world my mother passed from in 1965, I wonder what she would say. She has been the guiding light of my conscience since I was a little child. She worried about the world she was leaving, but she always knew Christ walked with her family. She put her faith and the lives of those she loved in God’s hands; “All things are possible with Him.”
Worry doesn’t make the bad things go away; it dangerously ingrains them in our souls. The negativity and divisiveness of our country are not of God; they are of the one who opposes God. My own insecurities and fears are the oppressor’s way of entering things that I do. As I wait patiently for the coming of the Lord, I rejoice at His presence among us each day and in His eternal light in the darkest corners of our world. I hear my mother’s voice in my prayers and in the verses of the Bible. I pray that God will open our eyes and ears to the wonders of Christ’s advent among us.
When I think about how darkness has evolved in our world, I hear my mother’s voice calling me back to the light; “Always remember you are a child of God.” As I go about my daily chores, I feel the presence of Christ beside me. I hear Him say, “Be still and know that I am.” And from my mother’s heart, I hear the melody of these wonderful words; “Faith, hope, and love abides still, but the greatest of these is love.”
Anna Hartt
