Listen to mothers who grieve and weep listen to mothers who wail want more something different better Listen to mothers and watch an entire generation rise up bless all that is broken
Dear CG’s (caregivers),
I’m not asking you to become a mother. I’m not saying your value and your worth are determined by your mothering - or even that you must, must, must tap into your inner mothering, even as a non-mother. What I am asking… pleading for, really… is that you listen to mothers, simply, because we are tired.
We are mending the socks and petitioning that our trans children are loved as-is. We are making milk (literally in some cases) and stumbling through the grocery on two hours of sleep. Our children are in-patient at some facility we’ve never heard of, because of missing mental wellness. Some of us are missing an entire child. Children. And, our hearts ache be they in Heavens loving embrace or wandering the streets. We are worried each day we drop off our kids at school… send them to a new friends house. We are concerned that they might not grow up to love God. Any version of Them. We lie awake at night wondering if they’ll come into contact with a known food allergen or that the neighborhood bully will make fun of their gait, stutter, anxiety yet again. We wonder if anyone sees them, as they are and not as the world desires them to be. We are taking them to the millionth sports practice with the same team only to find out they’ve been subjected to abuse there; their peers too. And, this morning we woke up to hear the news. It was terrible and awful, of course, and will affect everything we do with our children today, now. Our hearts are simultaneously cracked and stretched, daily.
So, I’ll plead once more…
Listen to mothers.
I’ll be honest that many days go by now and my worries are less than before, despite the world and the writings I share above. Less than they’ve ever been, really. I can’t say that this is because of my faith journey, though perhaps it is… because of the depth of my spiritual life. That I still see good. That I can sit still and count the miracles that have stretched skyward from seeds I never saw planted.
Mirabai Starr says about this space in Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics,
“The more you turn inward, the more available the sacred becomes. when you sit in. silence and turn your gaze toward the holy mystery you once called God, the mystery follows you back out into the world. When you walk with purposeful focus on breath and birdsong, your breathing and the twitter of the chickadee reveal themselves as miracles.”
And so, I guess, my wish for you this week is that you turn in, too.
Especially if you mother.
And if you don’t mother, listen to those who do.
We need you so very much.
Squeezes,
J. 🌻 @thebarefootpreacher
Mutual aid request
This week in listening to mothers, we have a mutual aid request. The incredible Rev. Teresa Kim Pecinovsky of the Mother God book is currently requesting mutual aid for a cross country move post-layoff. Her venmo and cashapp are @tkpsky. Payal is teresapecinovsky1. You can also support her by purchasing Mother God, though we know those funds are much slower to be received.
New here? Reclamation is a safe, inclusive and progressive space where you can find contemplations at the intersection of caregiving, pain and peace. My promise here is to remind you of how to love well. Yourself, your kids, your neighbor, and the whole wide world.