I recently celebrated my fifth Mother’s Day. My family spent the day together doing simple fun things. I was perfectly content with my day and the gift my son made for me himself but later that evening as I watched the news (actual several news shows at once as my husband controlled the remote) I listened to several interviews with mothers in various walks of life and I started to wonder what our world would be like if mothers, all mothers, were given more power to control the world. I was no longer content. I know I have a wishlist and I despair of seeing my wishes come true.
Peace has to top any mother’s wishlist. My son is only 5 but I have already suffered through sending beloved nephews off to war and war zones. I cannot imagine sending my child to war. No mother wants to. I imagine if mothers made world policy then we would see much less war. I don’t believe there are many people who desire war but if the women who actually gave life also had the final say in when it would be spent I think there would be a lot less war.
Plenty for all has to quickly follow the wish for peace as it the unequal division of the world’s wealth that so often causes problems in the world. When there is little hope to achieve or a constant struggle to maintain the basic necessities of life then people will be driven to extremes. Our world has a tremendous bounty of food and water and other resources. Modern technology has created tremendous advances in health care. Yet there are mothers who cannot provide food, shelter, clothing, care, or protection for their children.
Understanding would likely resolve the conflicts with the first two wishes. Mothers of all races and creeds share far more in terms of priority and experience than they differ in ideology and culture. No matter where, when or what we worship our prayers contain similar wishes, hopes, and fears for our children and that is an essentially human bond that could serve as a foundation for others. How much conflict and war in our world has simply been caused by not understanding? How much peace would we achieve by finding ways to bridge over those misunderstandings with common wishes? I think with better understanding would also come more tolerance for those differences that now separate us.
I will stop with these three wishes as three is a magical number. Perhaps if enough mothers share my wishes then they will indeed come true. I can only hope that my future Mothers Days will see more peace, plenty and understanding and less war, want, and intolerance.