By Blake Harris
This coming weekend, our country will honor mothers on Mother’s Day. The holiday can be a day of joy. But it is often punctuated by sorrow. This year, many will long to celebrate the holiday with loved ones they are unable to visit due to the current pandemic. Some will remember mothers they have lost. And other mothers will grieve the shattering loss of a child. The experience of loss on Mother’s Day can feel isolating. Actually, it was out of this experience – of grieving mothers – that Mother’s Day has its roots.
In the late 1850s, Ann Jarvis, widely considered the ‘mother’ of Mother’s Day, established Mother’s Work Day, a day dedicated to teaching mothers how to better prepare food and clean so as to prevent disease. This mission was driven by personal experience, as seven of her eleven children died before adulthood. Though personal, this experience was anything but unique in a time before vaccines and a widespread understanding of germ theory.
Jarvis’ work took on new meaning during the Civil War. Her home was in close proximity to a major battlefield and the county was flooded with wounded Confederate and Union soldiers. She organized groups of mothers to visit the wounded and ailing of both Union and Confederate loyalty, tending to their injuries and instructing soldiers and camp staff about basic sanitation strategies. Jarvis was not only concerned with the well-being of the young soldiers and sons, but also with that of a post-war, unified, country.
The carnage of the war spurred women, like Jarvis, around the country to find ways to help where they could. After the war, Julia Ward Howe, helped to reshape what Mother’s Day could mean. As a volunteer for the United States Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, she helped alleviate the effects of disease and injury. After the War, Julia wrote her “Appeal to womanhood throughout the world”, later the “Mother’s Day Proclamation”, which attempted to unite women around the world together to bring about a lasting peace:
"Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn all that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy, and patience. We, women of one country, will be too tender of those of another country, to allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."
Mother’s Day continued to be celebrated as a movement for peace, but was only celebrated at local levels until the turn of the century. In 1908, Anna Jarvis, daughter of the aforementioned Ann Jarvis, began to campaign to make Mother’s Day a federally recognized day in honor of her mother who had died in 1905. The first nationally celebrated Mother’s Day was in May of 1914. But what had been a day dedicated first to cleanliness and later to peace was again repurposed, this time to celebrate mothers themselves.
As we celebrate the devoted and loving mothers in our lives, we think back to the origins of the holiday and remember the goals of the mothers who began this tradition: to keep their children safe, prevent the spread of disease, to reduce suffering, and to work for peace. Today we share these goals, and wish you all a Mother’s Day full of love, peace and remembrance.
CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR WORK ANNIVERSARY!
Sophia White May 4th
Kyle Ethridge May 23rd
Lisa Franklin Gray May 23rd
 Lisa Franklin Gray & Coco
The Clingy Pet Challenge began circulating on social media several months ago. The goal of the challenge is to show the clinginess of your pet in a photo. We received so many great entries to the challenge that I could not pick just one. We will feature a new "clingy" fur baby each month.
It's not too late to feature your canine or feline kids in an upcoming edition of Council Chronicle’s Clingy Pet Challenge. To participate, please submit a good quality color picture of you or a family member with your pet via email in jpeg form. Please include your fur baby’s name.
Thank you to Lisa Franklin Gray for submitting this beautiful picture of her canine child, Coco and herself for this month’s Clingy Pet Challenge. Good looks obviously run in the Franklin Gray family.
CINCO DE MAYO: WEDNESDAY, MAY 5
MOTHER’S DAY: SUNDAY, MAY 9
TAX DAY: MONDAY, MAY 17
MEMORIAL DAY: MONDAY, MAY 31
SUMMER CHICKEN SALAD WITH CILANTRO-CITRUS VINAIGRETTE
Cilantro-Citrus Vinaigrette
2 large handfuls fresh cilantro, thick stems removed
2 bulbs garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp honey
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Put all ingredients in blender except olive oil. Blend well. Drizzle in 1/2 cup olive oil while the blender is on. Remove from blender and season with salt and pepper.
Salad Ingredients
Mixed greens
Thinly-sliced red onion
Thinly-sliced radish
Diced avocado
Mandarin oranges
Candied pecans
Crumbled goat cheese
Grilled chicken
Combine salad ingredients in large serving bowl and toss lightly. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Pour in Cilantro-Citrus Vinaigrette dressing, blending ingredients and dressing thoroughly before serving. Enjoy.
James Peden May 7th
Barbara Shanklin May 24th
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
'WOULD YOU RATHER' QUESTIONS ARE GREAT CONVERSATION STARTERS AND JUST PLAIN FUN.
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Would you rather it be impossible for you to be woken up for 11 straight hours every day, but you wake up feeling amazing, or you can be woken up normally but never feel totally rested?
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Would you rather have everything in your house perfectly organized by a professional or have a professional event company throw the best party you’ve ever been to, in your honor?
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Would you rather have unlimited amounts of any material you want to build a house, but you have to build the house all by yourself or have a famed architect design and build you a modest house?
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Would you rather never sweat again but not be more prone to heat stroke or never feel cold again but cold still physically affects you (i.e., you can freeze to death)?
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Would you rather have super sensitive taste or super sensitive hearing?
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Would you rather have constantly dry eyes or a constant runny nose?
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Would you rather have out of control body hair or a strong, pungent body odor?
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Would you rather be unable to have kids or only be able to conceive quintuplets?
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Would you rather lose all your money and valuables or all the pictures you have ever taken?
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Scott Harrington with his canine child, Bebe.
WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?
What makes you happy? Is it a person, place or thing? A group of people, a pet, a home, a beautiful sunset, a favorite flower, favorite color, favorite song, etc. What one thing never fails to put a smile on your face and happiness in your heart? What makes you feel grateful and blessed?
Scott Harrington says, "My happy place is walking on my treadmill while reading my daily devotional book, an anniversary gift from my wife.
“Day 83 – Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done.”
Scott's 45-minute exercise routine and scripture readings are something he enjoys because it allows him to focus on what’s really important in life.
Thank you, Scott, for sharing with us 'what makes you happy.' This is a good reminder that it's sometimes the simplest things in life that bring the most joy and feelings of contentment.
IN HONOR OF MOTHER'S DAY, HERE ARE 20 HOLIDAY TRIVIA REGARDING THE CELEBRATION OF MOTHERHOOD
1. Mother's Day isn't always on the same date each year.
The holiday is celebrated every year on the second Sunday of May. This year it will be on May 10th.
2. More calls are made on Mother's Day than any other day of the year.
Approximately 122 million calls are made on the second Sunday of May.
3. Mother's Day is the third highest selling holiday for flowers and plants.
After Christmas and Hanukkah, more people buy flowers and plants for their moms on Mother's Day than any other holiday. Around approximately one quarter of all the flowers purchased throughout the year are bought for Mother's Day.
4. One of the earliest Mother's Day celebrations was in Ancient Greece.
The Greeks would have spring celebrations in honor of Rhea, the goddess of fertility, motherhood, and generation.
5. Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants.
According to the National Restaurant Association in 2018 about 87 million adults made plans to go to a restaurant for Mother's Day.
6. As of 2014, there were 43.5 million moms in the States.
These women are between the ages of 15 and 50 and have collectively mothered 95.8 million children.
7. The moniker 'Mom' comes from babies.
The first thing a baby can vocalize is the 'ma' sound, which is why in almost every language the word for mother begins with the letter 'M' or is some iteration of the 'ma' sound.
8. The history of American Mother's Day starts with peacemaker Ann Jarvis.
During and following the Civil War, Ann Jarvis made a concerted effort to foster friendship and community between the mothers on both sides of the war. She started a committee in 1868 which established the first glimmer of today's holiday: "Mother's Friendship Day."
9. Ann's daughter, Anna continued her legacy by creating the official holiday.
Anna Reeves Jarvis sought to honor her own mother by establishing an intimate day of observance that is very obviously the basis of today's holiday. The very first Mother's Day was celebrated in 1908.
10. President Woodrow Wilson signed Mother's Day into law in 1914.
After Anna Jarvis created the Mother's Day International Association in order to streamline the intimate day of observance to the second Sunday in May, Woodrow Wilson legitimized the celebration as a nationwide holiday.
11. Anna Jarvis would later try to stop what Mother's Day became.
The holiday quickly became a commercialized opportunity for producers to sell flowers, candies, and cards. Anna Reeves Jarvis felt this was detracting from the personal and intimate aspects of the holiday and defied this by starting boycotts, walkouts, and even condemned first lady Eleanor Roosevelt for using the day as a means of fundraising. Jarvis would eventually use all her money in this fight and died at the age of 84 in a sanatorium
12. In 2018, over $23 Billion was spent on Mother's Day.
On average, shoppers spend $180 on gifts for their mothers. A national total of $4.6 billion was spent on jewelry and $4.4 billion on dinners or brunches.
13. The most popular gift for Mother's Day is the greeting card.
Every Mother's Day there are approximately 152 million Mother's Day cards sent.
14. Carnations have a special meaning on Mother's Day.
Anna Reeves Jarvis used the carnation on Mother's Day to symbolize whether your mother was living. A red carnation meant she was alive, and a white meant she had passed away.
15.Mother's Day is celebrated all over the world.
Albeit on different days. But in addition to the U.S., Great Britain, Canada, Costa Rica, Samoa, Georgia, Australia, and Thailand all have designated celebrations to honor their country's mothers.
16. 36% of Americans plan to buy their mom jewelry.
However, flowers still remain the most popular gift option, with about 69% of Americans opting for a floral present.
17. Some countries still observe ancient festivals honoring mothers.
In India, people celebrate Durga-puja, a festival that pays homage to the mother goddess, Durga. The festival is a ten-day event that takes place around September or October.
18. Most United States women have their first child in their twenties.
In 2017, the average age for a first-time mother in the United States was 26.8 years old.
19. Beauty salons and spas also get a Mother's Day boost.
According to the National Retail Federation, this Mother's Day people will spend $2 billion on personal services (like spa treatments) for their mothers.
20. Moms aren't the only ones getting Mother's Day love.
The average American buys 2.8 Mother’s Day cards, so most people are buying more than just one for their mom. Many people opt to buy Mother's Day cards for grandmothers, sisters, and their mother-in-law.
PRAYER FOR EQUALITY, PEACE & UNITY
I pray for equality, unity and peace in every city in our country. Equality for all people in every country. I pray for justice for all those who have lost their lives needlessly and unjustly. I pray that all people, regardless of race, religion or socioeconomic status be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve. I pray for change so that healing can begin in this country and around the world.
Amen.
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