"And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary" (Mosiah 3:8).
There is something touching to me about this list of glorious titles, followed by "and his mother shall be called Mary."
Maybe that's because I'm a mother of sons. Sons who were once helpless infants who depended on me for everything. Sons who, as they grew, carried me along with them in their journey of discovery and their experience of wonder as well as of overwhelm. Sons who have struggled and conquered and have become, or are becoming, men.
I think of Jesus, whose name literally means "Jehovah is Salvation," being the Son of God and how that references his majesty and might. And I think of him as the Son of Mary, and how that references his taking upon him the helplessness of an infant before he grew to be mightier than death.
In his infancy and childhood, he needed Mary. The Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things needed a mother.
That just makes motherhood feel vastly valuable.
Some questions: how did Mary mother her Creator and Redeemer? How did she minister to his needs in a way that was sensitive to who he was.
And who are mine sons -- really? While they are not my Creator or Redeemer, they were held in reserve for this time and they have an important work from God. How do I remember and honor who they really are in my mothering?
Sensitivity and responsiveness to who people are/were, where they are going, and who they can be (or really are depending on how you look at it); it changes things.
Interesting to consider that Mary sinned while parenting someone sinless. Makes sense that it took Jehovah in a body that was more than normally divine to break the cycle of inter-generational sin from His birth that the rest of us inevitably inherit and then chip away at as we grow and reconcile ourselves to Him.