Virtual Methodist

In today's video I refer to my repeated pedantic refrain in sermons every 4th Sunday in Lent that today isn't Mothers' Day but Mothering Sunday, and I have repeated that tendency on this blog in various forms, including mention of the origins of both Mothering Sunday and Mothers' Day .  But today, in the wake of some of the events this week all such pedantry should be abandoned and the place of  mothers and women in general within society and especially the church needs to be loudly affirmed.  Mind you, given the state of my hair and collar in this video, I'm not sure that my Mum would have affirmed me much in the wake of it. I can hear her voice even now. As I say in it, in preparation for any public speaking I had to do as a child, she always put me over it in advance, and gave me some clear directions that I follow to this day. Among them was the instruction to check yourself in the mirror beforehand, to make sure you look presentable... Oops... Sorry mum... ps....

Hello again... I've been poorly for a couple of weeks, adding to my blogging lethargy... But tomorrow I am back on Good Morning Ulster's Thought for the Day, so I had to get the proverbial finger out... Especially in the wake of Padraig O'Tuama's superb pieces for the past few Friday mornings... (If you haven't heard them check out the last one from last Friday morning on iPlayer before it self destructs...) At one point I was considering doing something based on what follows, which first appeared as a piece on Downtown Radio in pre-blog days... But I ended up writing something else, and you'll just have to tune into Radio Ulster at Stupid o'clock tomorrow to find out what... Or wait until it is posted here later tomorrow). In the meantime here's something to think about: So... all you Mothers out there... Did you have a good day today? Breakfast in bed? Flowers? Cards? Sunday dinner out? No dishes to do? I’m telling you... you get a good deal... al...

You have been my hope, My God and King, my source of confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; Since you brought me out of my mother's womb. I will praise you forever. You are my secure support. My mouth overflows with your praise, Singing of your splendour all day long. Psalms 71:5-8 Selah

Now, before some liturgico-ecclesiological pedant points out that strictly speaking today is not Mothers' Day, but Mothering Sunday, a celebration of mother church rather than our biological (or any other sort of) mothers, I want to say, I know. Mothers' Day is actually an American invention, but like anything that comes out of the USA, whether it be MacDonalds, Disney, Dunkin Donuts or Double Dip Recessions, it eventually makes its way across the Atlantic, and so by default Mother’s Day has replaced the older and less commercial Mothering Sunday celebration. For that the card manufacturers, florists and chocolatiers may be very grateful, but actually even the American phenomenon didn't start out as the saccharine spending spree that it has become. Apparently it grew out of Julia Ward Howe’s Mothers' Day Proclamation in 1870. Julia Ward Howe, is perhaps best known for having written the words to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," which inspired the Union Troop...