Mother of Man

We have stretched ourselves through April and have finally made it to the month of May, friends. And with Mother’s Day on the horizon, I find my mind wandering through more of the universe’s great mysteries and once again pouring my thoughts onto paper… er… typing on digital paper I guess.

Below are the lyrics to the children’s hymn our ward primary sang last year for Mother’s Day:

Words: Phyllis Luch, Music: Jeanne P. Lawler

My mother taught me to love the Earth. She taught me to climb a mountain and yell into the sky once I reach the top. She taught me how to be still as my eyes soak up the scenery of an open valley. She taught me to walk beside a river and listen as it whispers wisdom to overcome my life’s challenges.

As I’ve grown older and allowed layers and layers of life to wrap around me like a flavored onion, the wild “earth child” inside has shrank deeper underneath those layers. The young tomboy who once spent her day climbing trees and wrapping herself in the tossing ocean waves now spends her day consumed in house projects and wrapped in sweatshirts because it’s simply too cold to go outside… I once buried my little body under the dirty beach sand and reached out on floating logs to catch water snakes, now I bury myself in excuses for why I don't have time to go hiking and reach out instead for my phone to check my texts.

I'm getting better though.  The seed of love my mother planted inside of my soul towards Mother Nature has begun sprouting again. And I’m noticing that as I now consciously strive to give the Earth my undivided attention, she has reached out and pulled me back into her welcoming arms. 

For this post I wanted to focus on HER and here is what I’ve discovered as I’ve sought out who Mother Nature really is.

The word NATURE is “to give birth”. How appropriate to give such a name to that which creates, is mothering, and nurturing!

When I inhale the pure air of the forest, my heart inhales pure healing, and my spirit inhales pure heaven.  I’m drawn closer to God inside of her quiet peace.

The hymn says it best as the lyrics to ALL CREATURES OF OUR GOD AND KING encourage:

Dear Mother Earth, who day by day

Unfoldest blessings on our way, 

Alleluia! Alleluia!

The Flow'rs and fruits that in thee grow,

Let them his glory also show,

Alleluia!  Alleluia!

As I ponder of Mother Nature and her connection to the Savior, my grasp of His atonement expands into a new dimension. I think back to the New Testament where Christ goes sorrowfully into the Garden of Gethsemane.

As his closest friends lay fast asleep and left him alone to suffer for the sins of the world, there was one who did not abandon Him. Mother Earth was there and supported Him during His pain. Through the blades of grass beneath Him and the fists of dirt He may have clung to, He was not alone.  

I have always wondered what it would be like to meet someone like John the Beloved and picture myself overwhelming him with questions about what it was like to walk with Christ. I’d ask about His personality, His mannerisms, if He did indeed smile all of the time the way I have always imagined...

Yet the thought recently sank in deeply and hit me that SHE knows Him. She lifted Him across the water with every step that He took and obeyed as He hushed her stormy breath. She listened to every sermon, watched every miracle, and knew what no one else knew as he knelt and cried in agony, “if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”

From the moment of her birth when the Earth opened her eyes, it was His face, her creator, that she saw first. A loving bond that I believe we mortals are incapable of fully understanding in this life.  

If we take a step outside of our front door, we are surrounded by the one who witnessed it all. And I believe if we reach out and ask, she will draw us closer to Him.

The earth considers us her children. The Mother of Man. Enveloped in that same heavenly love, she is the womb we develop in before our birth into immortality.

I’ve always believed that if I make it to heaven I would race directly over to the Holy Ghost and give him the biggest embrace (Is He huggable in heaven??? IDK) and thank Him for always being there and getting me through this crazy, wonderful, confusing life. I am now realizing that she has always been there with me too… watching silently with the greatest of wisdom, just waiting to be given permission to teach.