Mother, Catch the Vision of Your Call
A few years ago
there appeared in a large city newspaper a true story of a
young boy, then fourteen years old. The story was titled "The
Evolution of a
Delinquent." After rehearsing the many serious involvements
the boy had had
with the law, the reporter posed the question, "What twisted paths
of childhood
lead to the tortuous road of delinquency?" Interviews with
the boy's neighbors
began to supply at least part of the answer.
One neighbor lady said,
"I try not to think of him the way he is now, but how
he was when he came to our home and played with our children years
ago." Tears
filled her eyes as she recalled one afternoon when the young boy,
then a small child,
rushed to her home after his father had picked him up at a day nursery.
As the little
boy held on to her hand, she asked, "Why do you always come running
to our house
when you come home from the nursery?" The tot replied sorrowfully,
"Because
there is no mommy at my house."
The woman said that this
answer almost broke her heart. There was a mommy
at his house and a father also, but many times the children were
left at home alone
to care for themselves. Often the children would go to the
neighbors' homes because
there was not light and companionship at their own home. They
were afraid of the
dark. This was not just a darkness that fades with the morning
sunlight. You see,
there is a darkness that comes when there is no mother there.
Throughout my life I have
seen the influence for good which dedicated mothers
have had in their homes. Because of this, I should like to
present my thoughts today
in hopes of giving encouragement, strength, and guidance to those
of your number
who are confused and wondering about the Lord's eternal plan.
President David O. Mckay
put it beautifully when he said, speaking of
mothers, "This ability and willingness properly to rear children,
the gift to love,
and eagerness, yes, longing to express it in soul development, make
motherhood
the noblest office or calling in the world. She who can paint
a masterpiece or write
a book that will influence millions deserves the admiration and
the plaudits of
mankind; but she who rears successfully a family of healthy, beautiful
sons and
daughters, whose influence will be felt through generations to come,
whose immortal
souls will exert an influence throughout the ages long after paintings
shall have
faded, and books and statues shall have been destroyed, deserve
the highest
honor that man can give, and the choicest of blessings of God.
In her high duty
and service to humanity, endowing with immortality eternal spirits,
she is co-partner
with the Creator himself." (Gospel Ideals, Salt
Lake City: Improvement Era, 1953, pp. 453-54.)
One of the great tragedies of
our day is the confusion in the minds of some
which would cause mothers to go to work in the marketplace.
Satan, that master
of deceit, would have us believe that when we have problems with
our children,
the answer may be a nicer home in a finer neighborhood, that they
might have
their own bedroom, or better quality clothes, and maybe their own
car. Satan
would have us believe that money or the things money can buy are
more important
in the home than mother.
Now there are some
mothers with school-age children who are the bread-
winners of their family and they must work; they are the exception.
Fathers and
mothers, before you decide you need a second income and that mother
must go
to work out of the home, may I plead with you: first
go to the Lord in prayer and
receive his divine approbation. Be sure he says yes.
Mothers with children and
teenagers at home, before you go out of your home to work, please
count the cost
as carefully as you count the profit. Earning a few dollars
more for luxuries cloaked
in the masquerade of necessity--or a so-called opportunity for self-development
of talents in the business world, a chance to get away from the
mundane
responsibilities of the home--these are all satanic substitutes
for clear thinking.
They are counterfeit thoughts that subvert the responsibilities
of motherhood.
As you count the costs of mother working out of the
home, please consider the
following:
--A mother gone when her
children need her most or one who is too tired from
a day spent in employment. Far better for a boy or girl to
go to school in last year's
shirts or hand-me-down dresses that are clean even though not in
the height of
fashion and come home to find mother there, than for a boy or girl
to go to school
in finer and newer clothes and come home to a new TV or a baby-sitter
because
Mother is away working.
I like the poem of Esther H. Doolittle:
Mother
Sometimes when I get home from school
And mother isn't there,
And though I know she'll be back soon
And I don't really care,
Still all the furniture looks queer,
The house seems hushed and sad:
And then I hear her coming in,
And, oh boy, am I glad!
Count as the cost:
--A mother whose daily thoughts have been tinted gray by some whose
morals
are not as high as hers.
--A mother whose time is so filled that she can't give full measure
to the most
respected profession of all--motherhood.
--A mother whose energy is so sapped that she is sometimes neglecting
her call
from the Lord, a call that will one day prepare her to become an
eternal mother--
a co-creator of spiritual offspring.
--A mother who, in a moment of confusion, had forgotten that
you learn to do
by doing, you learn to be by being, that motherhood is an art to
be developed
through practice. this art isn't easy to learn, but learn
you can because as you
strive, the Lord will bless you with growth, patience, wider understanding,
and
loving warmth for your family's special needs.
Count as the cost:
--A home where the heart has been weakened, oftimes destroyed
because of the
wish for so-called material comforts at the expense of spiritual
necessities.
Remember, a loving
Father in heaven sent some of his own for you to care
for. As in the song "To a Child," children are not a gift
to us, but a precious loan,
a priceless loan to be returned--returned more valuable than when
we received
them, understanding more, better prepared to return to him who lent
them to us.
The charge is ours to increase their worth.
Our Father in heaven would
rather have you comfort the scratched arm of a
little boy in patched trousers than have a baby-sitter or older
sister or brother do
the same because you are away working. He would rather have
you read stories
in the afternoon to a little girl in a faded blue hand-me-down dress
than have her
entertained by a color TV because you are away working to make the
payments.
He would rather have a child come home from school to a mother ironing
clothes
or baking cookies, than to come home to a hired housekeeper because
mother is
away typing or taking shorthand to improve her job qualifications.
Brothers and sisters,
do without if you need to, but don't do without mother.
Mother is more important in the home than money or the things money
can buy.
Our Father in heaven wants you to be in your home to guide these
spirits as no
one else can, in spite of material sacrifices that may result.
He created you to
learn to be a good mother--an eternal mother. It is your first
and foremost calling.
No baby-sitter, no grandmother, no neighbor, no friend, no Relief
Society sister,
older brother or sister, or even a loving dad can take your place.
Again we say, unless the
Holy Ghost has given you a confirmation that it is
all right, don't go out of your home for hire.
Now, to those of us who
are husbands and children, let us help our mothers
and wives be happy in our homes. Let us love them, honor them,
respect them,
revere them. Let us help them fulfill their call from the
Lord. Let us be sure we
do our part to make our homes pleasant. Let us help them have
time for mental
improvement, for educational growth, for cultural pursuits, and
for developing
talents. A home will be blessed and enriched when a mother
is encouraged in
these paths.
I know a young mother
who has a great talent in music. She sings beautifully
and plays the piano with great feeling and ability. Every
week she gives a lesson
to each of her four little children. Every day she spends
a few minutes alone with
each child, some-times sharing with them her love for art or of
music. Besides
blessing her children and her husband with great talents, she leads
a choir and
gives joy to many with her singing. When women develop their
talents, it is a
blessing to themselves and to their families.
Remember too, brethren,
a cheery "please," "thank you," or "I'm sorry,
dear" will go a long way to heal the wounds of a sometimes frustrating
day. It's
amazing what a two-minute phone call to your wife at midday can
do for her spirits.
You sons and daughters and husbands, it is important for our exaltation
that our
wives and mothers enjoy and learn their profession well. Let
us do our part to help
them.
May the Lord bless mothers
everywhere. You who stay home to tend and
care for the little spirits that bless your home, may you feel that
sweet spirit of
peace, contentment, and satisfaction. To you mothers who are
the bread-winners
in your family and must be gone from your home, may you be blessed
with an
abundance of the spirit of heaven to strengthen and sustain you
as you direct the
lives of these beautiful little ones that lighten and enliven your
home.
To you mothers who haven't
yet caught the vision of your eternal call, may
you especially be enlightened by the spirit of truth as you weigh
carefully in the
balance the things of real value in this life.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
The Ensign/May 1974--Bishop H. Burke Peterson