Rev Hilary Howarth

“Grandmother, Sarah – was a woman ahead of her time who played the organ and preached in church at a time when women didn’t do that sort of thing.”

….reflect on the lives of all women around the world. In a year that has seen violence against women on an exceptional scale.

Women have been featuring a lot in my thoughts in the past few days as we approach Mother’s Day. It won’t surprise you to know that I think of my own Mum who died suddenly of a heart attack on Christmas Day some years ago. My mum was one of four daughters born in a mining village in the North East of the country. In 1931 when my granddad couldn’t find work he moved the family to Liverpool. My Mum met my dad, Harry Bevan, at the age of 18 and they married during the war. While my Dad served in the RAF my Mum worked in the munitions factory during the Blitz. My paternal Grandmother, Sarah – was a woman ahead of her time who played the organ and preached in church at a time when women didn’t do that sort of thing. She was a lady of deep faith and when her other son, my uncle, was captured by the Japanese in Singapore and held in a Prisoner of War camp, my Grandma prayed for him every single day until he came home.
For my Mum the 1950’s and 1960’s were hard. She saw my aunts each have a number of children while she was unable to have a child of her own. She always talked about being very happy for each of them but inside struggled with her own childlessness and her desire to have a child. The news of each niece and nephew to be born was greeted with a face that was smiling but a heart that was breaking. Mother’s Day was one of the hardest days of the year for her, and I’m mindful of the women today who long to have a child of their own but for some reason are unable to have one. My parents adopted my brother and then out of the blue they discovered to their shock and amazement that in their early 40’s my Mum was pregnant and I was on the way!
Our family moved from Davyhulme to Bolton but as well as raising my brother and I, Mum cared for Dad with cancer until his death at the age of 46. It wasn’t easy for her as her support network was back home in Liverpool (it was always home to her). To keep a roof over our heads Mum juggled many jobs but the faith and support network provided by the local Methodist Church was, and always remained, hugely important to her and to us.
Mum worked hard, she loved, she cared and most of all she gave. She gave me the best start in life that she could give me at personal cost to her own happiness and I am proud that Pamela Bevan was, and is my Mum. I remember her with love and gratitude today.
When I look at my own two daughters, I am incredibly proud of the women they are and when I talk to my three granddaughters, I think of the futures they will have and marvel at this continuous line of love.
But this week I also think of other women who have made and are making an impact on the world around them. Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navgalny and her strength to keep up his fight, along with raising their children and coming to terms with his death. Esther Ghey, the mother of Brianna, and her compassion – women who can, and do, shape our world.
But this week I also think of other women who have made and are making an impact on the world around them. Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navgalny and her strength to keep up his fight, along with raising their children and coming to terms with his death. Esther Ghey, the mother of Brianna, and her compassion – women who can, and do, shape our world.
I also reflect on the lives of all women around the world. In a year that has seen violence against women on an exceptional scale I think and pray for the women and girls of Afghanistan and Iran who have had their freedoms taken away from them; the women who leave unsafe places in the world to make the treacherous journeys across continents with small children to find a place of safety; the women trafficked around the world and women who suffer appalling sexual violence as this is now seen as one of the most prolific acts of war. The women of Gaza faced daily with the terrors their children are experiencing and at the same time the women of Israel desperately hoping for the safe return of their loved ones held hostage by Hamas and the women and mothers in both Ukraine and Russia.
I’ve been thinking too of women in the Bible as I reflect on Mary, the mother of Jesus. The stories of other women fascinate me too – Jochebed the mother of Moses who hid her baby in bulrushes to keep him safe; Rahab the prostitute who helped the spies of Israel escape; Naomi and her wonderful daughter-in-law Ruth who refused to leave her; the story of Esther a woman “born for such a time as this” and if you want a story of bravery read from the Apocrypha the story of Judith who cuts of the head of the General Holofernes to save her people.
These are some of the women who have influenced my life and my faith and for whom I thank God and pray for daily. As a woman I want to follow in their footsteps and not only make a positive mark on the world but to work towards making this a fairer and safer planet for all people, but especially women who often have the odds stacked against them. I believe this as a follower of Jesus, whose love and compassion for the women he came into contact with was far outside the norms of his society. I suspect his mother was part of this influence!
Who will you be thinking about today on this Mother’s Day?

Prayer: Thank you God for the mothers who have loved us and cared for us. Thank you that you are both father and mother to us, help us to love with your love. Amen.