As Mother's Day approaches we can be assured that we are indeed mothering in the light. Becoming a mother enriches our own spiritual life. We are stretched, in more ways than one, and changed after becoming mothers.
We are called to juggle many balls, some of them crystal, some made of backyard mud. We can often feel as if we are whirling out of control. This fall I actually witnessed the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey perform a seven-hundred-year-old Islamic sema ceremony. White-robed men spun their way to serenity in a form of moving contemplation. It all reminded me of the dance of motherhood. Rather than allowing the flurry our everyday existence to knock us into a giddy response, it is possible to experience the serenity in the immediate.
The seemingly endless rotations of the Whirling Dervish dancers is symbolic of our days and nights as parents. When we raise our hopes, dreams, prayers, and needs to the heavens, as the dancers raise their palms to Allah, we are mothered, fulfilled, fed, tended to. We are grounded by our link with the Divine and anchored to an eternal sustaining light. We are spinning--but not out of control. We remain balanced when we lose our keys, are late for karate, or never get to the day's work quota.
My Mother's Day prayer for you is:
Just as the dancers maintain their physical axis, never getting dizzy, so do you remain centered and at peace. Your yearning for transcendence is quenched within the rhythm of your everyday life and you find the guiding light within to nourish and sustain you. Happy Mother's Day!
