My two boys are playing together quietly in their room. My daughter is passed out in her bed after a night of birthday party adventure. It’s perfect. It’s not the ideal scene for “mother’s day” but I’m a bit of a scrooge at Christmas and a hag on mom’s day. Not that I behave inappropriately or rudely, I just don’t go for this push and shove along to do what can be done any time. And is done many times…showing love, showing appreciation.
But! I’ve two new plants to put in the ground thanks to Mother’s Day. I got to see an extra high beam shine in the eyes of my children. I’ve heard from my friends and sisters and spoken with my own mom. It’s a rich bonus, I must admit, to have the extra, all-in-one-day flow of encouragement and to give it.
It was a gift in and of itself to stand by and watch a monsoon-like torrential storm usher my daughter’s party into the arms of fated fun last night, right on the threshold of “mom’s daze.” We had plans and schemes and all kinds of things to eat and electricity, games for the boys she’d invited (wow, a first) in case they got bored. And then the rain. And then the wind. And the groan of transformers failing, trying again and failing then for hours. And the fun took on dripping drenched proportions, stripping us of protocol and shyness as I dashed to cars with umbrella rendered completely useless by the direction of the wind and the sideways “falling” rain. But it was a lovely gesture, no? My clothes thought better of it.
I love how nature brings us down to our best and even to our worst. I was reminded of the best of it last night. The evening evolved into candlelight, piano storming and guitar interludes with outbursts of singing and dancing and too much laughter to keep inside. It had to spill into yard, flying up to sky. They had fun. I sat back and kept candles lit, checked the location of males and females and grinned at the revolution.
Then this morning I find brasschecktv reminding me of Katrina and how nature showered and smashed us out of illusions, uncovering our weaknesses, our unprepared state, our nation’s clueless disconnection from what really matters and the ease with which we herd and are herded without regard for dignity, respect or intrinsic worth. Such a stark contrast.
Check it out (and the blog of Oathkeepers, the group who created this video):
It puts me in a more sober mood, once again. To recognize the responsiblity of parenting includes teaching our children most especially what to refuse and why, why the freedom to run under moonlit sky without fear, without loss is tied so intimately into the freedom to stand up and draw a line and say “this far, no farther…” It puts me back in touch with the value of the one, of the lone unit, the “anecdotal” comprising “empirical” and tossing us all into a show of what’s real. It puts me in touch with the truth that we discover what matters most when we can rest in our freedom. It begins within . . . with knowing the legitimacy of our wants and needs in the middle of pouring rain. To be so sure of such value we’d never dream of robbing it or violating another in fear. And when we do, to stop and learn from it, to be changed by what nature reveals.
jrk
J. Ruth Kelly 
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