Freeing a Mother's Heart Will Free a Child

A few mothers were being interviewed on being mothers. They were giving standard motherly reactions. And a standard mother can always be inspiring. They appear to be really a cut above the rest of humanity in their capacity to feel and emote.

It must be because a mother is capable of soooo much love. Intelligent sons sometimes brush it aside as pure maternal instinct which may partly be true. But love is always an act of the will. It is above instinct.

One of the sons of a mother has inflicted sooo much pain on his mother. The mother shared that the deepest cut in her mother's heart is to finally realize and accept that her adult child does not love her enough. That all the conflicts that have existed between her and her son were brought about by her asking for a little more love and respect than her son is willing or is capable of giving. It is this son who from time to time would end their strained talk and serious conflicts--serious enough to shake their relationship to its root--with: "You prayed for intelligent children, this is what you get!"

"How do you shield a mother from such a retort of a child--adult at that-- who coats his disrespect with presumed intelligence?" she querried.Then continued, "I consider it the most irrational of all intelligence. How do you free a mother's heart from such a contradiction in logic?"

Wait! Does a mother's heart need freeing? Really? Perhaps not! A mother thrives best in loving without counting the cost or expecting any return on her investment. A mother's heart is most free when it simply loves in the manner her heart is designed to be-- all-giving. I am reminded of a line in Filipino movie "Anak". The mother who was forced to work as domestic helper abroad came back to her family, every member of which has not done well in life and even blames the mother's absence for their failure. The mother questions: "How much love is a mother expected to give to be entitled to some reward?"

If distraught mothers indeed need some liberation then perhaps it can spring from a realization that different people loves differently. Both mother and child may have given their all but both suffer mutual dissatisfaction. For both of them, deeper understanding can bring about forgiveness. Mutual understanding and foriveness alone can free both hearts from the dark forces which have hold them hostage.

Or perhaps, mothers have to just learn to accept the painful reality that some children can be ungrateful. Then offer her pains to the Lord Who has entrusted said child to her loving care.