WHEN I THINK OF MOTHER

(On the Occasion of the Death of Josephine's Mother)

Don E. Peavy, Sr.

People talk today too often of heroes –

People who while doing their jobs

Suffer the fate of mortal humans

And are forced to give up the ghost far too soon.

But when I think of Mother –

I think of a saint who lived her life

For her children and others

And who despite her poverty never complained

But always and forever had a smile on her face.

When I think of mother carrying water or

Groceries from the market;

I am reminded how often Jesus fed others

Even though he was hungry and tired.

When I think of Mother

Watching her only son leave home to never

Be heard from again,

I think of the Prodigal Father and God

Both losing sons only to find them again.

Except Mother’s son never returned and

An emptiness always taxed her soul.

When I think of Mother singing and praising

God while working for others,

I am reminded of the Hebrew children who

Hung their harps in the willows and refused

To sing Zion’s songs in a strange land.

Mother never met a stranger for she knew

All too well that all are children of God and

We are all distant brothers and sisters.

When I think of Mother, arms folded in death,

I am reminded of the promise that those

Who love the Lord shall sleep but never die

And we shall all meet across that great and vast Jordan River

And hear the words of our Lord and Savior say to us –

“Well done my good and faithful servant,

“Come inhabit the mansion I have prepared for you!”