Daily Meditation: Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Nature - a mother who sets boundaries that mustn’t be overstepped

05/18/2010

Nature has laid down laws, and she punishes us if we transgress them. Nature is a good mother, but she is also very strict. Some will say, 'But that's not the image we have of a mother. On the contrary, a mother is gentle, loving and indulgent. It's the father who is strict.' You haven't observed closely enough or thought about it properly. What is a mother's role with regard to very young children? She feeds them, of course, but she teaches them as soon as possible what they should or should not do to develop in the right way. She gives them rules about nutrition, hygiene and good sense. She sometimes deprives them or restrains them: she stops them getting too near fire or water, she removes matches and sharp objects from their hands, and she hides the sweets and the jam if they tend to overindulge. Sometimes she allows them more freedom while keeping an eye on them, and if they fall or hurt themselves she says, 'You see, try not to do it anymore, or else you will hurt yourself again.' And if they really are going too far and being awkward, she punishes them. The role a mother plays with her small child is, on another level, the role nature plays with regard to human beings.