Dreams of a Mother from long ago
If you know the name Julia Ward Howe, you probably know her as the writer of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic." Ms. Howe's poetic voice also suggested Mother's Day, long before it became a holiday, as a day to celebrate celebrate peace.
The first stanza of her Mother's Day Proclamation reflects her protective feelings as she wished for the men in her life to be safe from the ravages of war.
MOMocrats are celebrating Mother's Day all week by asking moms to share their dreams. I join them as Mom, as teacher, as political liberal, but mostly as dreamer.
I dream that differences will be valued, not disdained.
Eye color, hair color, body shapes, and skin shades will be appreciated for their beauty and variety.
Cultural traditions will not disappear, but will thrive and grow together into a rich and fascinating sharing of knowledge and beliefs.
I dream that blindness will be merely a different way of seeing, and deafness impair only the quantity, not the quality of the language 'heard'.
Children will matter because they own the future. Their education, academic and social, will become and remain of utmost importance.
The mediators and the peacemakers will be recognized as the strongest leaders.
Questions will come from curiosity, not ignorance, and the answers will breed respect.
Knowing each other, knowing ourselves, will lead to knowing that fights and conflicts, wars of all kinds, will cease to be of value.
Stumble It!
The first stanza of her Mother's Day Proclamation reflects her protective feelings as she wished for the men in her life to be safe from the ravages of war.
"Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
MOMocrats are celebrating Mother's Day all week by asking moms to share their dreams. I join them as Mom, as teacher, as political liberal, but mostly as dreamer.
I dream that differences will be valued, not disdained.
Eye color, hair color, body shapes, and skin shades will be appreciated for their beauty and variety.
Cultural traditions will not disappear, but will thrive and grow together into a rich and fascinating sharing of knowledge and beliefs.
I dream that blindness will be merely a different way of seeing, and deafness impair only the quantity, not the quality of the language 'heard'.
Children will matter because they own the future. Their education, academic and social, will become and remain of utmost importance.
The mediators and the peacemakers will be recognized as the strongest leaders.
Questions will come from curiosity, not ignorance, and the answers will breed respect.
Knowing each other, knowing ourselves, will lead to knowing that fights and conflicts, wars of all kinds, will cease to be of value.
Cross posted at A Mother's Garden of Verses for Mother's Day, 2008
Labels: all politics are local, disabilities, family life
Stumble It!
posted @6:33 AM
3 Comments:
Beautiful Daisy - so glad to have found your blog (thanks Momocrats).
Truly, a beautiful collection of dreams.
May I join them as a dreamer and political conservative?
Lovely dreams!
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