Categories: church
Tags: Mary, Christianity, church
Date: 02 March 2008 20:07:37
I'm not the biggest fan of Mothering Sunday (to give it its proper name!), especially at church - not because I've had bad experiences with my mum (I haven't particularly, she's lovely) or because I want to be a mum but can't (I don't know either way, but have never had any particularly strong urges to be a mum so I don't have that ache that many other people describe at this time), but because I'm aware of so many people I know who have huge issues with the day - due to singleness, childlessness, past abuse, whatever - and have observed how often the church is useless at acknowledging this, instead subjecting everyone whatever their background to a cheesefest that is often spectacularly insensitive. I hadn't forgotten to send mum a card, but it hadn't registered that that would mean Mothering Sunday at church until we were walking to church, and then I just had to think oh well I'll just have to put up with it, as it was too late to have decided to go to the early morning service instead. Anyway - thank God for my church. I did cringe a couple of times, but that was due to my inner Protestant rather than my inner bolshie cow (which is the usual reason I cringe at churches). Being an Anglo-Catholic church (ie Anglican but at the higher end of the spectrum - not stratospheric, but higher than any of the other churches I've settled at) the focus was well and truly on Mary today. I can't say I was overly comfortable about singing a hymn which included as its chorus the Hail Mary, but a quick scan of the words reassured me that it was, in fact, not bad at all. And then another hymn which I presume was meant to be about Mary, but didn't actually mention her and so ended up sounding like a cheesy Patience Strong ode, was just too cheesy for me to be able to sing with any enthusiasm (it was also too high, as it happened!). But, the fact that the service focussed on Mary, and her example of motherhood as relevant to the whole church, meant that the service wasn't just "aren't mothers wonderful?" like they so often can be, and so the grumbleometer didn't actually register much at all. So that was good.
I think it helped that I read a post by unordered the other week which I found really helpful in thinking about Mary. Read it here.