Mother's Day is 'Her'e

[Pic: www.guy-sports.com]

The second Sunday of May is 'her'e... the day specially attributed to the mothers of the world. The Hmars, too, after conforming to the 'Christian way of life' must have felt the need to pay tribute their beloved mothers on this day, as is evidently marked on our calenders.

The church also seems to be going all out in support of 'Mother's Day' from the late 90s. With programmes and events all set across many churches the Day will see sons and daughters garlanding or hugging and also shake hands with their parents.

Despite the misgivings about commercial enterprises backing the Day with new 'offers of the day' 'Mother's Day Offer' Mother's Day gives us a chance, to at least, shake our hands or hug our mothers - a rare practice in Hmar community.

There are many in the Hmar community who have never hug his or her mother since their childhood days. If you haven't done that, this year's Mother's Day could be the day to begin with. You don't need to buy expensive gifts, or anything at all to show gratitute to the one who gave birth to you. Even if you don't have garlands or can't muster enough courage to shake hands with her, a simple 'Thank You, Mother!' would be the greatest gift for her.

Nu, Damsawt Rawh! Thank You Mother! May you live long and healthy!


If you want to take a look at the history of Mother's Day...Read the following:
Source: Tajonline.Com
HISTORY: The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.

In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.

In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."

Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.

Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. In fact, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers.