This little indentation in the middle of our stomachs is a reminder from God to all mankind of that never ending connection, an eternal connection, to their mothers, even for those of us who have laid our mother’s mortal remains in the grave as I have.
The older I get the greater joy and peace I find in my soul whenever I ponder the creation of man as recorded by Moses in the first three chapters of Genesis.
It is a magnificent story of how God created the world, then Adam, and then realizing Adam wouldn’t be complete without a “help meet,” created Eve, as his “help meet,” from out of the dust, as he had Adam, and then breathed the “breath of life” (her spirit) into Eve, even as he had into Adam, and she “became a living soul,” and “the mother of all living.”
Did God add the belly-button to our bodies as an afterthought or was it by design — to be a constant reminder of the role our mothers have played in providing each of us with our mortal body — a tabernacle to house our eternal spirit in during our sojourn here in mortality?
I believe it was by design — because I also believe there were no afterthoughts in God’s great plan for all mankind.
These three chapters also provide a strong confirmation of the importance of the “traditional family” (a father and mother united in marriage by covenant) in order to “multiply and replenish the earth” with their own kind — with a charge to mentor their children and prepare them to return to that God who created their spirit body.
Adam’s “help mate,” mothers, play an essential role in this process — at least my mother did. To me my mother represents God’s greatest creation — mothers.
Nurturing and love were built into God’s creation of Eve and passed on down through the ages and finally implanted in my mother — Christine Margaret Walker Conkey who gave birth to me, her first born 84 years ago.
My mother took her divine role of mother seriously, teaching me by example of her belief in Jesus Christ.
She believed He lives. She believed that happiness and success comes only through obedience to the commandments we find in his guidebook for life — the Bible.
She taught me by example that I needed to become a part of my community, wherever I lived, and that I have an obligation to help make my community a better place to live for every member of my community.
She even taught me to be politically active, and to defend our freedom and liberty by becoming involved in the political process.
One of mother’s favorite clichés was if you were given a lemon, make lemonade out of it, and mother’s life was one of serving lemonade to all who came into contact with her.
Shortly after I was born, Dad lost his teaching job — $900 a year with no benefits — due to the depression that engulfed America during the 1930s. They lost their home and were forced to move their family into a shed that had at one time been used to house farm animals.
Over a period of years (12) they upgraded that shed into a modern home (modern for their day), a home that not only became the center of many family reunions and happy occasions her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren enjoyed, but a center for community and political activities that included welcoming the politically elite of Michigan, including Mitt Romney’s father George when he was running for governor of Michigan.
I often rode with her as she called on the speaker of Michigan’s House of Representatives. They were good friends. Her influence in community, county, state and national politics was enormous, far beyond her humble beginnings.
She taught, no she required, her children to work. She was involved in her children’s lives and we were involved in hers.
Life was no picnic for Mother but she and dad survived those days. But her lessons — love God, live His commandments, educate self, and work hard and life will be good — were taught well and her children have never forgotten them.
Yes, my mother was God’s greatest creation, just like all other mothers. Happy Mother’s Day!
Donald Conkey is a retired agricultural economist in Woodstock.
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