Spiritual Heritage

 

 

As I mentioned last week, we recently attended a reunion for my wife’s extended family. Her great-grandfather, along with his two brothers, emigrated from Germany to the United States in the 1870’s. They settled in a small farm community in Kansas. We visited the church that the community built in those early days. The interior of the church was beautiful and gave witness to the importance those early settlers gave to their spiritual life. We visited the family gravesites in the cemetery behind the church to honor those who were the founders of my wife’s family in this country. Everything that we saw and experienced at the reunion gave evidence to the tremendous spiritual heritage that has been passed down from one generation to the next.

 

On this Mother’s Day, we honor our mothers and thank them for their love and all the ways they have shown their love over the years. It’s also a good time to give thanks to them and to all the others who are responsible for our spiritual heritage.  Our mothers were often our first teachers in the faith and our first example of Christian love in action. Our faith is the greatest gift we have received and it is the greatest gift that we can pass on to succeeding generations.

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers, all those who serve as mothers, and also to our spiritual mothers!

 

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck” (Prov 1:8-9).