Lilacs, 1 Corinthians and Mothers

• Mom 
• Purple 
• Lavender
• Spring

Your thoughts of Lilac bushes might not leave impressions matching the items on my list.  But, during spring, Lilacs manage to attract my attention frequently. Pretty strange.  It seems like way too much thought about an ordinary plant.  However, the smell of lavender and the sight of those purple blossoms will always and forever make me think of my mom. These sights and smells cement a cerebral connection between a mother and son. She has always been there for me - and others too, of course.  After all, she's the mother of 5!




Recently, I was honored to be a reader during a very special marriage ceremony. This reading is an appropriate and well known passage from 1 Corinthians.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.  And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient. Love is kind. Love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

What does that have to do with Mother's and Lilac bushes?  Here's the methodology.  See the Lilac, smell the fragrance, think "Mom", and thank God for senses that allow me to remember the blessing of an amazing Mother.  Paul's 1st letter to the Corinthians reminds me that this woman understands love and has taught this lesson through her words and actions throughout her life. She's made it possible for me to understand and to teach love's lessons to my child.  My child is teaching her children and I know that her children will continue the lesson.

So, Happy Mother's Day, Mom. Happy Mother's Day, Daughter. Happy Mother's Day to all those who have touched my life and touch the lives of thousands in motherly ways.

Generations know love because of you. 

Note:  Not everyone made it into this collage.  I'll just apologize first and then congratulate you on your ability to keep a small electronic footprint!