This is a talk I gave two years ago:
The Eternal Nature of
Mothers
Twenty-one years
ago preparations were underway and reported on in the news for an upcoming World’s
Conference on Women, to be held in August 1995 in Beijing, China. Many voices
clamored for recognition, and spouted slogans demanding increased rights for
women, including abortion on demand, freedom from the slavery of marriage, and
recognition of the validity of same-sex relationships. After listening to
radio reports and reading newspapers and magazines, I longed to hear what the Lord
had to say about all this, knowing he would speak the truth through his prophet.
Days and weeks
went by and no statements were forthcoming from the church. I had a heavy heart
and a thirst for the word of the Lord. I kept a prayer in my heart that
the Lord would make his will clearly known concerning the issues the world
found so troubling.
Tears of
inexpressible gratitude fell as I sat in the chapel for the General Relief
Society Broadcast on September 23, 1995 and listened to President Hinckley
read: The Family - A Proclamation to the World. I knew the Lord had
answered the deepest longings of my heart. Here was the bread of life for
a world in the midst of a famine of the word of God; Living Water for a drought
stricken people; a sword of truth to cut through the war of words.
We are so blessed
to have pure, simple and true doctrine about the family, about men and women’s
roles as husbands and wives, and as fathers and mothers. We learn that these
roles are not temporary for earth life, but are part of an eternal continuum
stretching from before we were born, through earth life and on into eternity
after we die.
The family,
beginning with a man and a woman married in a covenant relationship, is an
eternal pattern. We are spirit children of a Heavenly Father, who obviously is
not alone, but partnered with a glorified and perfected woman. The story of the
creation in the book of Abraham refers to Gods, plural, who participated in
creating this earth and all things on it.
“So the Gods went down to organize man in
their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to
form they them.” (Abr. 4:27)
Eliza R. Snow,
sister to the Prophet Lorenzo Snow, penned these lines:
I
had learned to call thee Father, Thru thy Spirit from on high,
But
until the key of knowledge was restored, I knew not why.
In
the heavens are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth
is reason; truth eternal tells me I’ve a mother there.
(Hymns
#192)
Throughout the
scriptures are stories of great mothers. They are not considered great because
of their education, careers or other worldly attainments. Their greatness comes
from their obedience to God and their faithfulness to the Plan of Happiness.
Eve
Eve
was the very first mortal mother on this earth. She was given the ability to
bear children when she partook of the forbidden fruit and was cast out of the
Garden of Eden with Adam, her husband. She was given the name Eve “because she
was the mother of all living.” (Genesis 3:20) In fact, Eve means “life” in
Hebrew.
We
know from the book of Moses that Adam and Eve had many more children than Cain,
Abel and Seth. “And Adam knew his wife and she bare unto him sons and daughters,
and they began to multiply and to replenish the earth.” (Moses 5:2) The Book of
Moses also gives a deeper description of the type of woman Eve was. We learn
that Eve labored with Adam; that she knew the Plan of Salvation for she says,
“Were it not for our transgression we never should have known good and evil,
and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all
the obedient.” We learn that Eve taught her children all that she had learned.
(Moses 5:12)
The
scriptures do not record Eve’s reaction when Cain killed his brother, Abel, but
I imagine that she was devastated. I also imagine that she still loved Cain
with all her heart. She knew that Cain had the agency to make his own choices.
That
is probably one of the hardest things about motherhood, letting our grown children
make their own choices, even when we know the choices they are making are wrong
and will bring sorrowful consequences. I expect that Eve continued to pray for
Cain and love him every day for the rest of her life. I’ve no doubt that her
righteous posterity brought her great joy.
What
can we learn from Eve? We must work alongside our husbands in creating our
homes and raising our children. We must have a clear understanding and a strong
testimony of the Gospel. And we must teach our children the truths of the
Gospel, and then allow them to make their own choices; but we never give up on
our wayward children.
Jochebed
Jochebed, the
Mother of Moses, is mentioned briefly in Chapter 2 of
Exodus; and by name in chapter six. We can number her among the brave women of the Old Testament.
Moses was born during a time when the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians
and the Pharaoh had commanded all newborn Hebrew sons to be killed. Jochebed did not allow that to happen to her son. First, she hid Moses for three
months. At the point when she could no longer hide him, she made an ark to lay
him in, and put the ark on the banks of the river. She then had her daughter
watch over him. Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses and decided she wanted to raise
him as her own son. Jochebed was then hired to nurse him until he was old
enough to return to live with Pharaoh’s daughter.
It is
unclear if either the servant who hired Jochebed or the Pharaoh’s daughter
knew that she was his biological mother. Either way, it most certainly was not
a coincidence for Moses to spend the first years of his life with his
biological mother before being turned over to Pharaoh’s daughter.
What
can we learn from Jochebed? We should physically protect our children from
evil, and we sometimes need to make sacrifices in order to protect them. What
can we learn from Pharaoh’s daughter? We can be mothers to other children as
well, whether we adopt, foster, or simply act in motherly ways toward the
children in our wards and neighborhoods.
Naomi
The
story of Naomi focuses on her relationship with her daughter-in-law, Ruth. This
story is especially important because modern entertainment too often finds
humor in portraying a negative relationship between mothers and
daughters-in-law. It is disheartening to hear real-life stories about difficult
relationships with in-laws; so Ruth and Naomi’s story can be beneficial for all
of us whether we are the daughter-in-law, mother-in-law, or both.
When
Naomi’s sons died, she told their wives, Orpah and Ruth, to return to their
families as she was going to return to Bethlehem. Both women wanted to remain
with Naomi because they loved her. She again advised them to return to their own
families, which Orpah did, but Ruth refused to leave Naomi, so Naomi allowed
Ruth to accompany her.
Naomi
began calling Ruth “my daughter”, as she absolutely considered Ruth her family.
Naomi encouraged Ruth to remarry and advised her to ask Boaz for help in
finding a new husband. When no one would take Ruth as a wife, Boaz did. He and
Ruth had a son, Obed, and Naomi helped take care of him.
Naomi
could have been upset that Ruth moved on from her first husband, but instead
she was the one who encouraged and planned it. She even cared for Ruth’s son with
whom she had no biological connection, as Boaz was a relative of Naomi’s
husband.
What
can we learn from Naomi? We should love and respect our daughters-in-law. We
should support them in their righteous endeavors, and help care for
grandchildren. What can we learn from Ruth? We should love and respect our
mothers-in-law. We should listen to their advice and guidance, and allow them
to be a part of their grandchildren’s lives.
Mary,
the Mother of Jesus
Mary,
the mother of our Savior, answered God’s call to bear His son knowing that she
would be condemned for being pregnant outside the bonds of marriage. She
probably believed that her engagement to Joseph would end. But God with His
greater wisdom followed the eternal pattern of family and sent an angel to tell
Joseph that it was right to take Mary to wife, providing Jesus with an earthly
father.
When
the wicked King Herod set out to find and slay Jesus as a young child, Joseph,
Mary, and Jesus, being warned of God, fled to Egypt. Mary was willing to leave
a land and culture where she had spent her entire life, and move to a new and
strange place in order to protect her son.
Mary
allowed Jesus to teach her. When Jesus was 12 years old, he stayed behind in
Jerusalem, after the Passover feast. Joseph and Mary noticed he wasn’t in the
company of travelers and went looking for him. It took them three days to
find him. I know something of the fear and panic going on in Mary’s heart. When
they found him Mary lectured Jesus, as Mother’s do, and Jesus answered that he
was about his Father’s business. After that Luke writes that “[Mary] kept all
these sayings in her heart.” (Luke 2:51)
When
Jesus was grown, Mary knew that he had his own job to do. In fact, when wine
ran short at a wedding, Mary came to Jesus for help. Jesus reminded her that
his time had not yet come, but he would still help in his own way, and Mary
allowed him to choose how he would help. (John 2:1-10)
At
the end of Christ’s mortal ministry Mary had to go through one of the most
excruciating experiences a woman can go through watching her son die. I have no
doubt that she mourned him the rest of her life, but I also know that she knew
she would see him again. She understood God’s plan, and believed in it.
What
can we learn from Mary? We should follow Heavenly Father’s plan for our
families and accept the children He sends us. As important as it is to teach
our children, we should also be willing to learn from our children, and from
our experiences parenting. I’ve often said that most of what I know and
understand about Heavenly Father I’ve learned from being a parent myself. From
Mary we also learn that if and when we are separated from our children, whether
through missionary service, school, work, or death, we press forward with the
knowledge that our temple covenanted family is forever and we will see them
again.
Sariah
Sariah
was mother to Laman, Lemuel, Sam, Nephi, Jacob, and Joseph, as well as several
daughters. She went from being a rich woman of society to a woman living in a
tent in the wilderness. She watched her children argue and physically fight
with each other. Her heart broke over the wickedness of her two oldest sons. But
with all she went through, she remained faithful and loving.
In
the first sentence of the Book of Mormon we learn from Nephi that Sariah –
along with Lehi – was “goodly” and taught Nephi “somewhat in all the learning
of [his] father”. (1 Nephi 1:1) Sariah knew that her husband was a prophet, and
she went along with the family’s move into the wilderness. She did have a brief
moment of weakness, as she went through her tests and trials, but it helped
strengthen her testimony. She believed that her sons had been killed by Laban,
and accused Lehi of being visionary. Instead of being angry, Lehi comforted
her, and when their sons returned Sariah says:
“Now
I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the
wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my
sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power
whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them.” (1
Nephi 5:8)
It
was a mother’s love that caused this fear to come upon her. Her sons’ safe
return was a testament to her that God will protect them and she can allow her
sons to continue to do the work of the Lord. This is a great verse for
missionary moms.
Sariah
gave birth to Jacob and Joseph while in the wilderness. She didn’t let
their difficult new life get in the way of her family’s growth. When Laman and
Lemuel bound Nephi while traveling across the ocean, Sariah and Lehi become ill
from the stress of the wickedness of their sons. Nephi writes that they almost
died because of it. Sariah’s heart broke because of her sons’ wickedness, but
she never sent them away; she continued to love them.
What
can we learn from Sariah? We need to teach our children the gospel, and follow
the Lord’s plan for our families. It’s normal to have moments of weakness, but
we can learn from them, and use them to strengthen our resolve to keep our
covenants. When our children choose wickedness, we continue loving them and
praying for them; and we keep living the gospel so we can be examples to them.
These
five women serve as wonderful examples of good and faithful mothers. The common
threads in all the lives of these mothers are obedience to God’s commandments,
keeping sacred covenants, and teaching their children these things.
Their
stories teach great lessons about following God and caring for our children. If
we apply these messages to our lives we can better follow the heavenly pattern
of family life. These stories were recorded to teach us and future generations.
I encourage you to study motherhood throughout the scriptures and apply what you
learn in your own families. I know that with Heavenly Father’s help we can
become great and wonderful mothers to his beloved spirit children, our earthly
children.
I know that God,
our Father lives; he loves us more than we can understand. He sent his son to
be our Savior and Redeemer. Jesus Christ lives! He stands ready to lift us,
carry us, and help us as we repent and follow him. I testify that Jesus
Christ’s spokesman on earth is Thomas S. Monson, prophet and president of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the only true and living church on
the face of the earth. The Book of Mormon is a true testament of the Savior and
his mission. It was translated through the gift and power of God by Joseph
Smith, the prophet of the Restoration.
I give my solemn
and humble witness of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
