Recently at church we looked at the very early life of Moses – specifically when he was drawn from the water as a baby. It was suggested to me that what I said on that day was written down for others to read. So here I offer to you what I said on Mothering Sunday.
The bible passage was Exodus ch 2 v 1 – 10
Caring for the vulnerable is everybody’s responsibility. Caring and parenting is a collective responsibility. Children and the vulnerable shouldn’t have to hide away. In fact no-one can grow up to be a full person if they need to spend their time afraid and in hiding.
Moses’ mother was faced with the worst dilemma: in order to save Moses’ life, the only way forward was to let him go, without any certainty about what would happen. She decided to trust God with her baby. Instead of trying to keep him safe by hiding him, she tried to keep him safe by sending him away, hoping and praying that someone, somewhere would look after him. Parents all over the world are faced with similar choices, even though we rarely talk about them.
Parents who risk travelling as refugees. Parents who decide that their child should be adopted or looked after by someone else because they cannot look after them for a myriad of reasons.
And even when they do not part with their children, parents often need to enlist the help of others as they raise their children. Keeping children safe, helping them to grow up into well-adjusted adults isn’t the work of just mothers and fathers; but the work and responsibility of an entire community: parents, grandparents, extended family, godparents, friends, teachers, sitters, doctors, counsellors, churches. Parents were never meant to do this alone.
The story of Moses tells us that children need an entire community, beyond the midwives, doctors and parents. We have Miriam, Moses’ sister. She’s only a child, but she follows the basket and speaks to Pharaoh’s daughter despite fear. Thanks to her, Moses’ mother could look after him a little longer, knowing that he was safe. Love doesn’t go just one way.
Just as Moses’ mother cared for her children, Miriam cared for her mother and did what she could to make her life better. This story is one of care and kindness going in multiple directions, forming a net that catches the vulnerable and holds them safe.
And think about Pharaoh’s daughter. She had incredible courage. It would have been much easier to turn aside, pretend she hadn’t seen the basket and give the baby back. But she knew what the right thing to do was. She was the only person who could keep Moses safe from her father, Pharaoh. So she did it, even though she was a stranger, even though she had a different religion.
Caring and parenting is a collective responsibility we all share, as is the responsibility to be there when others cannot be. We are not all in danger like Moses. Most of us don’t have to risk our lives for others. But all of us have a responsibility to one another, a responsibility to care for the vulnerable, for those who cannot care for themselves. And, as in our story, all adults have a responsibility towards all children.
In one of our villages we know permission is sought for a safe home for looked after children. It will be home to two children and there will be at least three staff on duty at all times. What is our responsibility towards these children, these vulnerable ones? To let them know that there are good people in the world? To help enable them to reach their full potential by including them as much as is helpful in village life? Certainly not to meet them nor treat them with disdain, but rather show them the good that lies within us. To show them the welcome they so desperately need.
The story of Moses reminds us that parenting is not the task of parents alone. It is the task of the entire communities of love, care and compassion. May we live that. May we be that.
May we show that. Together.
Rev Jo Hurst