Good morning. It is nice to have you visit with me on this snowy Sunday. I know I have not walked with you for a while, and it is just that even though I am retired, I do not seem to have enough time to do all the things I wish. Now that I am in my eighties, I find my energy begins to fade, and I end up dozing off in a comfortable chair. It is also a time when my basement is rather cold, so I have not been in my shop as often as I have been in the past. In the future, I hope to catch up on the frequency of my walk, but please at least check at the beginning of each new month. Hopefully, I will be able to return to walking with you at least twice a month if not more.

The snow is beautiful this morning as it falls on the trees around our home. It is wonderful to have it snow when Dale is home. When it snows on a day when she commutes to Franklin Pierce University (an hour’s drive), I worry about her on the slippery roads. For some reason, the snow seems to fall on the days when she has to travel to Rindge, New Hampshire rather than on her days off, but today I can just enjoy Dale and the snowstorm.

You ask about Molly – Molly, my friend and companion? Now I am going to admit something about Molly and my relationship. When Dale is teaching, Molly and I often go off for a ride in our truck, and Molly sits on the passenger side looking out the front and the side window.  She is not too happy when Dale is with us for then she has to sit in the rear seat. Molly follows me everywhere I go when Dale is not home. Lately Molly is comfortable in a chair, on our couch, or our bed. Yes, I have changed, and Molly is now allowed to go places I always believed would be forbidden to her – they are now acceptable to me. Yep, I have very much become an avid dog lover. Do you know I sing to her?

When Molly is resting, I will often go over and just sing a soft song to her. Now you know very well I have a terrible singing voice, but when I sing softly, Molly seems to like it. She rests her head comfortably on a sofa pillow closes her eyes and listens. The other day in the early morning, I was singing her a lullaby my mother used to sing. That lullaby is Too-Ra, Loo-Ra-Ral. Not knowing all the lines, I looked it up on the web and found the words.

Over in Killarney, many years ago

My mother sang a song to me in tones so soft and low

Just a simple little ditty in her good old Irish way

And I’d give the world if I could hear that song of hers today.

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo ral

Too-ra-loo-li

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo ral

Hush now don’t you cry

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral

Too-ra-loo-ra-li

Too-ra-loo-ra-loo-ral

That’s an Irish lullaby.

I guess that is rather my scripture lesson this morning.  My childhood pastor charged me when I was ordained to preach God’s word wherever it might be found. Sometimes it is found in a simple lullaby.

How wonderful the songs were that many mothers like mine would sing to their children. Upon reading those words again, I thought of how my mother loved her mother. There did not seem to be a sadder day in my childhood then when my mother learned her mother had passed away. My mom loved her husband and all seven of her children, but we could feel the sorrow she felt. Now upon rereading Too-ra- loo-ra ral the song my mother would sing, I realize she must have thought of her own mother as she now sang to her own children.  That is the part of the “ditty” that came home to me as I sang softy to Molly – how I missed my mother and the place that mothers fulfill in our lives.

In this day where women are speaking out about relationships to other men – most of them certainly not positive – I cannot help but think of how motherhood was extolled when I was a child. To raise an upstanding and good child into adulthood was thought to be a God given calling. Now, I believe that every woman should be paid an equal wage as a man for the same position. I believe that women should have equal opportunities in any form of employment, and with that I believe when a woman gives to the world an honest, loving, caring child to the world, her task is a noble one.

I come to say this to you for I heard a woman who is well known, although on the news broadcasts I have not heard her name was recognized as an outstanding woman in our society. She spoke out in sadness and anger that her mother had been subjected to a demanding husband and that before she died she told her daughter that she had done nothing important in her life. Sadly, that daughter stood before society and said how tragic that was and that she had great anger toward her father.  Well I hope she did not say that to her mother. All I could think was what she should have told her mother: “ Mom, you made me who I am today and for that I am filled with love and gratitude. Your life was not without worth for you brought me into the world and gave me who I have become.”

My mother did that for me. She gave me life and the beliefs I hold. Only graduating from the eighth grade she said if she lost our father the only thing she would be qualified to do would be to become a housekeeper or a wash woman. My mother did not pass away regretting her life but still walked devoted and loving her seven children. And how we loved her and love her now. With all my heart (Irish as it might be as we approach Saint Patrick’s Day), I am filled with contentment and love for the mother who sang to me and to my brothers and sisters. Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-ral. The greatest gift to the world is the father and mother who gives to the world children who are compassionate, loving and who always seek to do that which is right. Forgive me, but I believe that is the highest achievement of all in society. Being a good parent who gives good children to humanity.

Thank you for joining me on our walk. I always enjoy your comments positive and negative. Happy Saint Patrick’s Day.

Prayer: Dear God help us to see the greatest gift a person can give is an upright child who loves You and their fellow human beings that You created.

“And now may the Lord watch between me and thee while we are absent one from the other. Amen.”