In I Corinthians, chapter 13, we are reminded that we can have every form of spiritual gift in the world, but if we don't have love, then we have nothing. And that's why it is so appropriate to talk about love on Mothers Day. Our mothers are usually our first source of love, and for many of us, our mothers are the best representation we have of true, Christ-like love.

In his book, In The Grip of Grace, Bryan Chapell tells us about that kind of love:

“On Sunday, 16 August, 1987, Northwest Airlines flight 225 crashed just after taking off from the Detroit airport. One hundred fifty-five people were killed. One survived: a 4-year- old from Tempe, Arizona, named Cecelia.

“News accounts say when rescuers found Cecelia they did not believe she had been on the plane. Investigators first assumed Cecelia had been a passenger in one of the cars on the highway onto which the airliner crashed. But when the passenger register for the flight was checked, there was Cecelia's name.

“Cecelia survived because, as the plane was falling, Cecelia’s mother, Paula Chican, unbuckled her own seat belt, got down on her knees in front of her daughter, wrapped her arms and body around Cecelia, and then would not let her go.”

That sounds to me like a metaphor of the love of God. She wrapped her arms and body around her daughter and would not let her go. It is impossible to overstate how great is a child’s need to know that he or she is loved. To know as a child that one is loved provides a lifetime of inner peace and security. As a child of God, to know that we are held in the loving arms of God who will not let us go, is the assurance of peace throughout the ebb and flow of the waters of life.

Happy Mothers’ Day to all our mothers this day. And to those who miss their mother’s love, peace be with you.