MOTHER’S DAY

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 20106, 13 May 1935, Page 10

MOTHER’S DAY

OBSERVANCE IN TIMARU SERVICES IN CHURCHES Mother’s Day, which was founded 40 years ago in America, and which has spread throughout the, world, was observed in some pf the churches in Timaru yesterday. It is a day upon which mother is honoured in the same manner as national heroes; for her it should be a day of rest, when for once she is spared the care and worry and toil of household duties. Upon her are bestowed little acts of kidness and gifts in appreciation of all that she represents in the life of the home, of the country and of the nation. In many Timaru homes yesterday children wore a white flower, the emblem of Mother’s Day, and they put into practice the ideals of the day. Congregational Church Reference to Mother’s Day was made at the Congregational Church by the Rev. J. Milburn Stewart, who took as his text 2nd Timothy, 1-5, “When I call to remembrance, the faith that dwelt in my mother. ’ The speaker said that there was no higher calling, no nobler occupation than that of a true mother. The ideal mother found help and guidance in the example set her by the mother of Christ. There was a day when the Saviour of the v-orld was held in th : tender arms of Uis mother. There was a time when He had no one to look to for love and sympathy but to His mo the i She witnessed the dawning of His soul, and she must have spoken to Him the first word about God. Thousands of great men had testified to the power and influence of shaping their characters to their mother. A mother’s love was the most powerful strand in the cord by which all were drawn into the fellowship of God. They talked of the long arm of the law, but the arm of love was longer than the arm of the law. The poet was not born, the preacher not yet ordained, who would utter the golden words, to set forth the value of a good mother. And the good father was like unto her. “Honour thy father and thy mother.” St. Paul repeated it in a letter to the Gentiles and reminded his converts, that it was the first commandment with a promise. They would accord their mothers a lofty place in their regards if they watched the spirit of the Old and New Testament. Mr Stewart said that speaking of the nobility of motherhood, Beecher said: “No orator, no singer, no artist, is to be compared with the mother who is carrying the image in the soul of her child. No mother need long go out of the household as if that were an obscure place. The gate of Heaven was inscribed over every noble family. Trinity Church In the course of the jubilee service at Trinity Church, the Rev. A. J. H. Dow made reference to Mother’s Day. He said that in all the King’s work and noble service, there had been associated with him the dignified and most gracious influence of Her Majesty Queen Mary. In her all one’s ideals of queenship were realised. Fierce was the light that beat upon the throne; but that fierce light revealed only consistency and goodness. The day was Mother’s Day. If the King was regarded as the father of this great family of the Empire, then truly it could be said that the Queen was the mother of all. When that day they have their hearts touched with a tenderness that only the word “mother” could arouse, every son. and daughter, every mother and father could turn their thoughts to the Queen and thank God for the inspiration of such an example. Truly not for nothing was her name “Mary.” A steadfast wife whose price was far above rubies, a devoted, sympathetic and understanding mother who had been the inner bond of union among her adoring family; a tender grandmother, a faithful and loyal friend. Such was the Queen. These words of her own gave the true indication of her character: “Remember that life is made up of loyalty: loyalty to your friends, loyalty to things beautiful and good, loyalty to the country in which you live, loyalty to your king, and above all, for this holds all other loyalties together, loyalty to God.” Baptist Church On the occasion of Mother’s Day. in an address before a large congregation at the Baptist Church, the Rev. J. Russell Grave said that during the week, there had been celebrations in connection with the silver jubilee of the reign of King George V. Throughout his reign he had shown deep interest in the varied life of the nation and he could quite truly be called the patron of the homes of the people. In his Christmas broadcast to the nation, His Majesty had said that the foundation of our national glory lay in the homes of the people. The coincidence of Mother’s Day with the day of national thanksgiving to God for sparing the King for so long had led the speaker to say something about the church and the home. The first thing that impressed him as he considered home in relation to God was that God was love, and love should be the foundation of the home. He sometimes feared that they were losing their conception of the sacredness of the home and were forgetting that home was the place where earthly companionship w r as perfected by love. Surely the most sacred functions of womanhood were in the inner recesses of the home, where a mother, in love, watched over her little ones. Thousands of women were doing this every day, many perhaps unconsciously, but when a woman neglected her children and found more interest in things outside, she became an unnatural monster. The tragedy of the family life was when boys and girls had to go beyond the father and the mother, for counsel and advice. Salvation Army. Speaking at the Mother’s Day Service at the Salvation Army yesterday, Mrs Adjutant V. J. Dick said that “Mother’s Day” comprised two words only, yet they brought to the mind multitudes of thoughts, which were summed up in one other word, “love.” When they thought of mother far back in their earliest recollections, they thought of many kindly deeds, her constant care in sickness or health; her kindly rebukes when they had been doing that which would spoil their character if left unchecked; or those words of encouragement that spurred them on to achieve great and better results. This love that demonstrated itself in service to others they that day honoured and expressed their thanks. Noble women right through the ages had displayed devotion and sacrifice. To-day by the anniversary of the Lady of the Lamp “Florence Nightingale” they thought of that motherly expression of care for others, and of those noble band of women

nurses that sprang into being through the efforts of one life of devotion and sacrifice that inspired others to good works also. Their beloved Queen Mary had set before them a noble example of motherhood, her quiet dignity and her untiring works in the interest of other people. Mrs Dick went on to say that General Evangeline Booth gave an illustration in one of her meetings recently of an old lady whose son was imprisoned on a charge of murder. He denied the charge, and his poor old mother would walk up and down the path saying: My boy never did it, my boy never did it. Then one day he confessed that he was guilty, and the chaplain came and told his mother. Immediately she answered: “Well tell him his mother loves him more than ever.” Such constant love took their thoughts to another love, “God’s Mother Love,” which was expressed in those old familiar words “Come unto me and I will give you rest”; rest in the turmoil of life. Also love shows its influence in those words “Charity suffereth long and is kind.” The speaker said that love endured and never died. It had sustained mothers who had for years been martyred by the fires of life’s sorrows. It had given courage to many men and women who had had to face poverty or distress or sorrow. Love that could help them bear and carry heavy burdens or share in their joys and gladness. Love trusted, and their love to the King called forth great trust, trusts when they could not understand things, when the future was veiled from their sight. Love always gave its best, even to great sacilfice.