In its origin, Mother's Day was an antiwar calling through the beautiful and bold statement by Julia Ward Howe. She was sickened by what had happened during the Civil War, the loss of life, the carnage, and she was the first to propose a "Mother’s Day" in 1870 not only to honor her dead mother, but as a call for women all over the world to come together to create ways of protesting war. She sought out to wake up the masses that WAR IS AN UNACCEPTABLE WAY OF SOLVING CONFLICT!
Arise, then, women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts,
Whether our baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have great questions decided by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will 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.
We, the women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
From the bosom of the devastated Earth a voice goes up with our own.
It says: "Disarm! Disarm! The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe out dishonor, nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil at the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home for a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace,
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God.
In the name of womanhood and humanity, i earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And at the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.
Every Day is Mother's Day!!
here is my personal tribute:
(this is the same pic i post every year, me and my mom posed in front of ancient looking books can't be a coincidence. Now when i think of who i am and forever becoming, i see myself always seeking the truth to live...to experience a moment like the one we shared in this snap...joy/peace/love/completion/knowledge in our background,etc...i was lifted, and thank you mom most of all for getting me through those dark nights (you know which ones) and for telling me to trust myself in that place we are sometimes called to go and for encouraging me to understand what it is and to never be scared because it is only me who can hurt mySelf. I am stronger because of you, i hear your voice, "just let go gently, don't fight yourself, just keep dreaming and wake up, goodnight, sweetdreams, i love you")
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