Consumerism of Mothers Day a far cry from its origins

Like so many other holidays, Mother’s Day has become an opportunity for card makers, department stores, florists and restaurant owners to turn a profit. And I admit that I am one who appreciates the special attention given to this day. However, I’m also a little sorry and disappointed that the actual origin for the holiday has been greatly overshadowed by the consumerism with which Mother’s Day is now associated.

The impetus for the holiday originated with Julia Ward Howe, known primarily as the poet who penned the words for “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

In 1870, Howe became outraged by the ravages of the Civil and Franco-Prussian Wars. Believing that women had a particular sensitivity and understanding of the human costs of conflict, Julia called upon women everywhere to stand up for peaceful resolutions and negotiations rather than violence and bloodshed. In an effort to draw attention to the movement to end all wars, Howe issued a proclamation which said in part:

“Arise, then, women of this day! Arise all women who have hearts, whether our baptism be that of water or of tears!

“Say firmly: ‘We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies. Our husbands shall not come to us, reeking with carnage, for caresses and applause. Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience’ …

“In the name of womanhood and of humanity, I earnestly ask that a general congress of women without limit of nationality may be appointed … to promote the alliance of the different nationalities, the amicable settlement of international questions, the great and general interests of peace.”

Although Howe did not live to see her dream of a Mother’s Day for Peace fully realized, other women took on her cause such as Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian woman whose own mother was involved in reconciliation efforts between Confederate and Union neighbors.

In 1907, the first Mother’s Day was celebrated in West Virginia and finally declared as an official national holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914.

No doubt both Howe and Jarvis would be turning in their graves to see how little we have learned in the ensuing years about resolving conflicts peacefully. As mothers in the Civil War grieved the loss of their husbands and sons, so do mothers in our own time ache as now both daughters and sons die as a result of war, whether as soldiers on the battle fields or innocent civilians caught in the cross fire.

This Mother’s Day, I honor those who stand up for peace, often at great personal cost to themselves. One such hero is Steve Baggerly, one of the finest and most gentle human beings I know. Steve is a war resister and peace activist, even to the point of serving several terms in jail for his nonviolent resistance to international conflict. Recently he came before a judge to defend his leafleting in front of the Pentagon.

Steve reminded the judge that in Iraq, upwards of 1 million people have been killed, more millions made refugees, maimed, orphaned, tortured, or driven mad by the war. Every war becomes a war on children. For the past half century, 90 percent of casualties in war have been civilians, with children much more likely than soldiers to die in war.

The statistics are staggering, even to the point of numbing the mind and hardening the heart. But the numbers represent real men, women, and especially children, all of whom have mothers. What better way to honor motherhood this day than to commit ourselves to working for a more peaceful world in nonviolent ways.

Gibbons is chaplain at Lynchburg College.