That thing again

I was thinking about that thing again, that many people say, or have said:

"You'll never know true love until you become a mother."

Giant swathes of society promote that message, ignoring how this attitude contributes to the pain of many people, both men and women, for not living up to knowing "what true love is."

And suppose you are a parent...what if one of your own children has any problems becoming parents themselves? Have you thought of how saying that can impact them? Now you've just added extra baggage to an already painful problem.

This writer, who does not have children,  and chooses not to attend church on Mother's Day, notes that she was "able to stand up" the "one and only time" she was pregnant a few weeks before she lost the baby. She has some thoughts on what she'd say if she "were the pastor on Mother's Day."

was able to stand up one year, long ago, in another church, the one and only time I was pregnant - See more at: http://www.uscatholic.org/life/everyday-spirituality/2011/04/mother-without-child#sthash.44rBgDW5.dpuf

http://www.uscatholic.org/life/everyday-spirituality/2011/04/mother-without-child

I have decided what I would say if I were the pastor on Mother’s Day. I would ask the mothers to stand, because they deserve applause, by all means. But after they were seated, I would ask all those women to stand who are not mothers. And I would say something like this:
Some of you are not mothers by choice.
- See more at: http://www.uscatholic.org/life/everyday-spirituality/2011/04/mother-without-child#sthash.44rBgDW5.dpuf

have decided what I would say if I were the pastor on Mother’s Day. I would ask the mothers to stand, because they deserve applause, by all means. But after they were seated, I would ask all those women to stand who are not mothers. And I would say something like this:
Some of you are not mothers by choice.
- See more at: http://www.uscatholic.org/life/everyday-spirituality/2011/04/mother-without-child#sthash.44rBgDW5.dpuf

There's also this to consider:

"Guatemala stands out in Latin America and the Caribbean, the only region in the world where births to girls under 15 rose between 1990 to 2011, according to the United Nations."

http://news.yahoo.com/guatemala-trying-keep-girls-growing-too-fast-120001982.html


Of course, many people don't even seem to have the time to consider the lives of those whose work provides them with food, clothing and more.

So it is not surprising that they also are not thinking about women who struggle, either with infertility, or with becoming mothers at the age of 14, when they make blanket statements about knowing or not knowing what "true love is" until the magical gift of motherhood happens.


But maybe that can change.