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Viewpoint from Rev Mandy Bishop 04/03/2016
 Rev Mandy Bishop
Rector of the Flegg Group, Ormesby
as published in the Yarmouth Mercury
MOTHERING SUNDAY
Mothering Sunday March 6th is a day when many will be visiting a grave or a garden of remembrance:
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some will not be buying a card or a gift for their Mum for the first time
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there are others who lost their Mums, when they were very young and have not purchased cards and gifts for many years and have missed out on so much more
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then there are numerous women who were never granted the blessing of motherhood or those who were have lost a child either in pregnancy, infancy, or young adulthood
The commercial hype which surrounds the Americanisation of Mothering Sunday to “Mothers’ Day” and seems to increase every year, is painful for a lot of women, partly because it seems to have lost its true meaning and significance in peoples’ lives
 The feelings associated with “motherhood”, that pure unconditional love, tenderness, gentleness, life-long commitment, are not the monopoly of women on “Mothers’ Day”, they are qualities that all of us no matter gender of status are encouraged to give to each other as part of our Christian faith
Mothering Sunday is about the Mothering Church. God has love and compassion as deep as mine for my daughter and grandchild
The Mothering Church is historically the place where families met once a year to be together. Often the children in “Service” were given the day off their duties, and they would meet at the largest local church, the Mother Church, and along the way they would pick daffodils for their Mums and other female relatives. That is why it is called Mothering Sunday, and symbolised by daffodils
Fathers, alongside Mothers, have a capacity to love and nurture, they have a parenting instinct. God our Father seeks to parent all of us, His children, and on Mothering Sunday, whilst the flowers are presented to the ladies, we could remind ourselves that Mothering Sunday is about family, love, and compassion. There is a “mother” in each one of us, a smile, a hug, an “I love you”, a “thank you” is priceless and costs no money
How thankful I am to God for that gift of being open to loving and wanting to be a “Mother” those around me
The Prodigal Father / Mother is the perfect example of a parent, running with open arms to welcome home one who was lost. That image is for all of us, those who have been blessed with the gift of being mothers or fathers and those who have not
Mothering Sunday March 6th, is a day to celebrate kindness, kindness to others and to ourselves
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