"I remember nothing about it except a philological fact. My mother said nothing about the dragon, but pointed out that one could not say 'a green great dragon', but had to say 'a great green dragon'. I wondered why, and still do. The fact that I remember this is possibly significant, as I do not think I ever tried to write a story again for many years, and was taken up with language." — J. R. R. Tolkien
Mothers pass along matters of great importance without even trying. An off hand comment made by Tolkien's mother led to his interest in language... and dragons. As a result, The Lord of the Rings eventually was born. In all the quiet moments and regular rigmarole of days under their care, our mothers put into motion more than they can imagine.
On this day my mother and the mother of my wife were both born. It was not the same year, but it was the same day of the year. As of a result of this day, two women were born. One gave birth to me and the other gave birth to my wife. Because they were born, we were born and because we were born and brought together by God, others were born. Much of who I am was shaped by comments from my mom and much of who my wife is was formed by her mother's mentions of various topics. Because of their nurture, my wife now has the opportunity to speak into my children's lives.
Praise God for birthdays, mothers, and their myriad offhand comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment