I Blog Poetry and Prose

Mother's Day: Thoughts on Nurturing

Jamál (Beauty), 15 Jamál (Beauty) 176 B.E. - Sunday, May 12, 2019
Mother's Day

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30-Day Blogging Challenge ON HIATUS  (13+) WDC's Longest Running Blog Competition - Hiatus #1786069 by Fivesixer

PROMPT: Write your entry inspired by the word “nurture.” What does it mean to nurture something or someone? How were you nurtured growing up, how are you currently nurtured, and how do you nurture others?

Mother's Day:
Thoughts on Nurturing

Nurturing goes beyond the body to include nurturing of the mind and the soul. Mothers, who are the first instructors of their children, nurture on all three levels--sometime simultaneously. As I found out, when I was taking care of my mother,it isn't always the parent that does the nurturing. My mother suffered from Alzheimer's disease, which stole her mind, memory, and changed her personality. Nurturing Mom became a process of feeding her body and her spirit, while attempting to find a way to nurture her mind.

"O ye loving mothers, know ye that in God’s sight, the best of all ways to worship Him is to educate the children and train them in all the perfections of humankind; and no nobler deed than this can be imagined."

Abdu’l-Baha1

I don't know how good a job I did nurturing Mom. I'm told I did a good job, but I don't know for sure how good a job I did. Sometimes I think I did a good job, and sometime I think I didn't. The only thing I can do now is wait until my soul ascends, and I meet Mom face to face again. In the mean time, I will say prayers for the progress of her soul.

Footnotes
1  Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 139.