It was pointed out to me recently that most Mother’s Day remarks issued from Christian pulpits down through the years have been given, somewhat ironically, by men. To which I responded, “That is definitely true, but this Sunday I don’t plan to speak about motherhood as a man but rather as a son.” And, speaking as a son, mothers are, in my experience, one of the great consolations in life. What I mean by that is that life is undoubtedly terrible sometimes, but my mom is now and always has been a powerful help to me in midst of that. As a young person I looked to her for safety, sympathy, guidance and nurture. I am a grown man now, and for the most part I have been weaned off of a dependence on her. I have been trained instead, and in no small part by my mother, to look to God for those sorts of things. However, even now there remains an aura of refuge hanging around my mom when I think of her. I know that this feeling is not universally held by people when they think of their moms. Many people tragically lost their mothers when they were very young. Others had mothers of the sort where they are actively trying to shove their memories down out of consciousness. I know that may be the experience of some who are reading this, and so let me be clear that my objective this Sunday will not be to point us toward an idealized vision of motherhood, but rather to talk about motherhood within the context of Christian mission.