Mother’s Day – A Celebration of Angels
by Stephen Doherty
May 14th, 2023
“All that I am or hope to be – I owe to my angel mother.” -Abraham Lincoln
Throughout history, men have fought wars on countless battlefields and engaged in seemingly endless physical endeavors to prove their strength, honor, and manliness. The annals of time are rife with men … and their almost infinite array of physically related manhood-proving adventures.
Yet, when God was faced with the choice of who to trust with incubating and protecting his most precious creation – he chose women. Why? Because if there was ever any doubt about who the stronger sex is – that argument is quickly and definitively dismissed upon witnessing the birth of a child. God made the right choice – and we all know it.
I have spent a lot of time reading, writing, and speaking about the celebration of fatherhood. To me, there is no greater or more honorable responsibility, for a man, than that of being a father.
To be a part of crafting character that will outlive me, molding values that subscribe to the heritage of our great nation, and simply building good neighbors that understand and embrace the meaning of the word citizen – is as much an honor as it is an obligation. I wake up every single day with humility and gratitude – thanking God for this unbelievable gift. I take it seriously. I always have. As important – I celebrate it as if I’d won the lottery! It’s that precious to me and I cherish it.
That said – there is something that I have always known in my heart. If life or fate forced me to choose between one or the other, a mother or a father – best equipped to give a child all it needed to grow up strong and confident? Hands down – the vote goes to the moms. I think there are several good reasons that underscore this reality, but one stands out above all the rest. Nine months.
Fathers get to say “hello” to their newborns in the delivery room. Mothers share a sacred and spiritual framework of incubation and bonding that simply has no comparative contenders. From that first cell created to that first conscious breath her baby takes outside the womb – a mother’s vested interest and influence is sacrosanct. The nurturing and protective instincts that emerge from that shared magical journey gives the child an almost supernatural shield. One need only see a mother bear or lion protecting their cubs to understand this instinctual difference.
Unquestionably, the magical elixir of a joint parental effort is the preferred potion for raising the best kids. Recognizing mothers as the best caretakers does not for a moment diminish the importance of fathers to the overall development of healthy, happy, and productive sons and daughters. Picking a hammer to drive nails doesn’t diminish the value of pliers or a screwdriver – it only serves to match the best tool for the task at hand. My advocacy for fathers and fatherhood is absolute, as is my commitment to excelling at it. It’s precisely this dedication to fatherhood that compels me to recognize and honor the distinction of motherhood.
So, on this Mother’s Day, I choose to side with God in bending my knee at the altar of Angels. For surely, when he conceived of this priceless vehicle of motherhood – he surmised what we’ve all come to understand and appreciate. Only an Angel would do …
“Heaven must be really small … because I can see it in my mom’s eyes.”