MY TWO MOTHERS

First of all, I like to wish all the mothers here a very happy Mother's day. Did you know that MD is the biggest celebration in the US, more than Christmas and Val day combined, when flower shops, restaurants and hallmark make the most money. Because, everyone does not celebrate Christmas, and everyone does not have a BF, GF or a spouse, but every one has a mother.

MD, however, is not a holy day in the church's calendar and pastors usually shy away from preaching about it for fear of hurting feelings. For example, there are people who were abused or abandoned by their mothers. The last thing they want to hear is nice things about someone who was not nice. Then there are others who have wanted , prayed and waited to become mothers, without success, and carry wounds of deferred dreams.

Suddenly, what seems so simple and profoundly important becomes an uneasy celebration. Our concern for the wounded, often leads us to forgo the rejoicing. I feel that we must celebrate this day, because, as scripture says, we must rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Our rejoicing should always be combined with compassion-and this applies to all situations in life. For example, look at what is happening in the world these days, especially the earthquake in Nepal. We must weep with the people of Nepal and help them with our prayers and our purses, but we don't have to be unhappy about our blessings.

Besides, I am not going to just talk about our biological mother. I invite you to expand your consciousness about motherhood today: to think about mother in a larger context.
Let me start with a question: ..Is there anyone here with more than one mother? Well I have 4 mothers. Bio mom, mother country, mother Mary..Jesus on cross pointing to Mary at foot of the cross told John: behold your mother..Only speak about bio mom and mother earth.

My mom died a year and half ago 92.

I have the greatest admiration and love for my mom, because, I am who am, largely because of her. She carried me in her womb for 9 months. She made sure that I was nourished and protected. It was not an easy task, esp. in the India of early 50s. Our house was in the middle of a farm. It was a two bedroom house, with cement floor, and thatched roof—for 7 of us and there was no indoor plumbing. And we had no electricity. Here when we loose power for a few hours or few days due to a hurricane or a downed line, we panic. Imagine having no electricity for life....

At night, the whole place was pitch dark, except for the hurricane lamps which gave a faint light for about three feet radius. We had no crib or real beds. We slept on mats, not mattress. We used to fold the mats in the morning so that the room we slept in can be used as living and dining room during the day.

Sanitation was not great. Cockroaches, ants and lizards freely roamed inside the house.. But my mother made sure that I was not bitten by them and took good care of me so that I grew up in one piece with all the limbs intact.

Also, infant mortality rate was high in those days. But my mom, and of course, my dad, made sure that I survived. I lost two siblings, one older and one younger than and each lived for only less than a month.

My mother was a strict disciplinarian. She would not allow me to play with the boys in the neighborhood, because, she thought that they would lead me astray. She would not allow me to go for movies, because she thought the movies would be bad influence.

I did not like my mom for that, at that time. But looking back, I am grateful, because, she did the best she could, to protect me and keep me safe. We should never judge a situation in our past with today's awareness and yard sticks.

Motherhood means sharing in the creative power of God: Conceiving, carrying and giving birth to a human being is as close as any person can come to the act of creation. That is the beginning of motherhood, but it is far from the end: motherhood is also nurturing, sacrificing, unconditionally loving and ultimately letting go.

There may be exceptions to this love, mothers who abuse, or abandon their children, but the ideal motherhood, is a divine vocation. That is why a wise man once said: God created mothers, because he couldn't be everywhere.” A Muslim prophet put it so well when he said: “Paradise is at the feet of a mother.”

I like to talk about my second mother-mother earth. Earth day was just two weeks ago. Again pastors don't usually preach about earth day,because it is considered a worldly topic. I think it should be a holy day..

Just like I came out of my mother's body, I came out of this earth. Todays's scripture, Psalmm 139 says: “You knit me together in my mother's womb” and “You knew me when I was woven toegther in depths of the earth,” thus making a beautiful connecton between the mother's womb and the womb of th earth.

We have this notion that we came ON the earth; It appears like that; but the truth of the matter is that we came OUT of the earth. We are made of the dust of the earth. Just like we share genes and chromosomes, flesh and blood with our mothers, we share all the elements with mother earth; Elements like carbon, hydrogen, calcium, iron that are in the earth's body are also in our body. The earth is 70 percent water ; we are 70 percent water.

I often think about the unfathomable beauty, mystery and magnificence of this moving blue dot in space which holds me up tenderly in the palm of her hands as my mother once did.

Like a mother, the earth gives us so much and demands so little. So, on this mother's day, I invite you to develop a special love and reverence for mother earth, this beautiful tiny planet in this majestic cosmos, on which we are blessed to live.

I have lived on this earth for 23,178 days and it has never failed to provide for me: air, water, and food, the three most basic ingredients needed for my very existence. Thank you holy mother earth.

I have never stayed awake at night, wondering and worrying if there will be enough air to breath when I wake up in the morning. As I walk gently on this holy ground, I join Prophet Isaiah to say “ The whole earth proclaims the glory of God.”

Let us take a closer look at our home planet. We usually experience it as stationary, because that is what our five senses tell us. But if we could stop for a moment and reflect, we will realize that we are moving, rather spinning, and yet staying put...that is a huge mystery worthy of adoration itself.

The earth spins around its axis at the speed of 1,000 miles an hour at the equator. It takes 24 hours to spin around once. The spinning makes our days and nights. But as we spin, we are also on another circle journey as we orbit round the sun. Traveling at the speed of 66,600 miles an hour, this second journey takes 365 days to complete. In that annual pilgrimage around the sun, we travel 595 million miles—with no oil change or tire rotation. Think about that...

Back to earth; It weighs a gazillion tons, a normal calculator doesn't have digits for that. The surface is 300 million square miles; there are 7.7. million species of animals living on it. We are familiar with a cat or a dog or a cow or an elephant, a donkey or a horse but there are millions of others. There are 2700 different species of snakes. Have you ever stood front of an aquarium and watched those beautiful fish with different colors and textures? We might see a dozen varieties; but there are 2400 different ones. There are a 1000 species of birds.

When we see the earth as a whole, from outer space, we can clearly see the connectedness and interdependence of all of us who live upon this planet. We have created imaginary boundaries, dividing ourselves into countries and states. We forget that in reality we are all living together, breathing the same air, drinking from the same water, eating food grown from the same earth.

We share everything on this planet with other people, whether we are conscious of it or not. For example, the air that is in your lungs today was circulated yesterday through the lungs of somebody living in China. The air in the lungs of the person next to you, enters your lungs in a few minutes. It is like two people eating from the same plate.

Imagine you walk into a restaurant and notice two people sharing a plate of food. It shows a level of intimacy, closeness and love.

Few months ago, I had lunch with one of my former supervisors who is also a friend. She ordered dessert and I didn't. A generous portion of ice cream souffle was placed in front of her. “I can't finish it alone Paul, have some” she said. There were two spoons on the plate. The waiter must have thought we were a couple. Initially, I was reluctant to share ice cream with a woman who was not my wife. But ice cream? Forget the wife for an hour. (just kidding).

While eating the ice cream from the same plate with a person who was not my blood family, I felt a special connection and affection for that person. She was from Jamaica, I was from India, we come from totally different worlds, experiences and backgrounds. But when we sat in that Benigans in Fort Lauderdale, and shared ice cream from the same plate, it felt like a divine connection.

Try that some day with somebody who is not a family member. It is an amazing experience of closeness, intimacy, love, freedom and unity.

If you really think about it, sharing food with others, from the same plate is happening every day everywhere. You are doing it right now. You are not sharing ice cream; in fact you are sharing something more important; you are sharing the air—food for your brain. Living on the earth and sharing the same air with everybody else is, in fact like sharing food from the same plate—an abundant cosmic plate.

Everyday, 7 billion people eat from that cosmic plate prepared and provided by mother earth—and the food never runs out.

Jesus had a special appreciation for the earth. He didn't live in high rise condos or work in board rooms. He taught on the mountain top, and the sea side; he prayed in the garden, and died on a hill. He talked about the lilies of the field and the birds of the air, because Jesus knew that the earth proclaims the glory of God.

Don't just live on the earth as aliens and strangers, plundering and taking advantage of its resources, but be respectful and grateful for everything that the earth offers, which is our life itself. We came out of the earth and we will return to it. We should always remember that the earth can survive without us, but we cannot survive without the earth. That should be a humbling thought.

So When you look at earth as your mother, your spirituality immediately improves. It is no more just about saying some prayers, reading the scripture, loving a few neighbors and trying to get to heaven after death. Speaking of scriptures, earth is actually the second scripture. Aquinas said: Divine revelation comes in two volumes; scripture and nature.

We should slow down and observe nature. We should walk barefoot on the grass or the beach. Feel the sensation of the earth sustaining us and holding us tightly and embracing us with its gravity. Earth's gravity and your mother's hug are the same thing.

In fact you are always embraced and hugged by mother earth. Without that, you will be tossed around and lost.

When you think of earth as your mother, you have no choice but to think of all the people on earth-7 billion people as your brothers and sisters. Remember we are all siblings, eating from the same cosmic plate. When you become aware of that, thoughts of nationalism, parochialism and tribalism disappear. You become more of a godly person, because God loves the entire earth and everyone on it. God has no separatist thinking.

When you see earth as mother, you see the big picture; You transcend your tribal mentality and develop a planetary consciousness. You see at all the people on this earth as members of the one body of Christ.

When you expand your consciousness to embrace the entire earth, blessings will begin to flood your life. When you include 7 billion people in our circle of concern, and love 7 billion people, you are going to get 7 billions pieces of blessing. If you just love the people in your household or your neighborhood, your blessings are limited.

So erase hatred; eradicate tribalism; eliminate narrowness; Expand your mind; enlarge your circle; engage with people; evolve as a spiritual being; emanate joy; experience mother earth and embrace humanity.

As you leave the holy ground of this church, I pray that you consider every ground as holy and every person you meet as a manifestation of the Holy One.