Growing pains

For all the distress and upheaval
For all the shunning
and disgrace she incurred
When Mary pushed her son
from her womb
into the waiting arms of the world
in all its darkness
and neediness
was her heart heavy
and her throat tight
and her eyes full of unshed tears?
Especially with her sense of premonition
confirmed by wise men and women
that this boy child
was destined
for a traumatic life?
Did she smile sweetly
and let others share her joy at his birth
while her heart was breaking into pieces?
Did she know that she would travel
from the pain of stigma
through the agony of labour-
(make no mistake
God did not have that covered!)
Did she endure those pains
only to be confronted
with the trauma of a son
who left home early
to be about the business of God,
a son who did not return weekly
with his laundry
or looking for a good feed
but who took to the road
and kept on going,
because Gods business was
a business that involved
itinerant living
hanging out with those labelled losers
and upsetting the institutions of the day
and, ultimately,
involved dying on a cross.
So much more than the normal pain
that assails those who mother a son.
Would she have changed a single thing?
Or is pain and loss simply a part of mothering?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad