Motherhood, Womanhood As Conscience Of Society -By IfeanyiChukwu Afuba

On Sunday, March 25, the Church celebrated this year’s mothering Sunday. The event which traditionally follows the Feast of Annunciation, honours the grace – filled life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Standing on the dignity the BVM brought to womanhood, the Feast by extension honours the vocation of motherhood. The BVM unites the two and stands out as the epitome of this face of creation. But because the mother of Christ was invested with supernatural graces, some have a feeling that she is so set apart from the rest of us that she cannot seriously be emulated. Notwithstanding that Mary led a normal human life on earth, except for the inclination to sin, her projection as model of womanhood and motherhood, is sometimes accepted as only the ideal but a mission impossible for the mass of humanity. This suspension or anaesthetic perception of Mary’s humanity takes place, somehow forgetting her seven sorrows. The flight to Egypt with Joseph, shortly after childbirth, in harrowing conditions of winter and desert dust, is a sobering reminder of the hardship she contended with. The three day search for the boy Jesus who had stayed back at the temple in Jerusalem is a trial no mother, let alone mother of an only child, would wish another parent. But, then, if Mary’s qualities are deemed too daunting, are there no other women of heroic virtues we can find to spice the subject?

Although motherhood is often seen from the prism of family, there is no reason why it should not include a role in the larger society. The fixation with running of the home may well be an unconscious acceptance of the limitations placed on women by society for centuries. While the importance of the family as basic unit of society, with implications for proper socialising cannot be overemphasized, the demands of citizenship are no less imperative. A woman, mother or not, is a citizen and has a role to play in the life of her society. Early, primitive communities and much of successive societies got it wrong with their patriarchal bent. The creator made woman as a helper, companion, not slave, not servant to the man. The human potential for greatness is not a function of gender. Womanhood is beyond motherhood just as motherhood is beyond the home. As the celebration of mothering Sunday echoes on, two Biblical women call our attention with their strength of character. With the Lenten season drawing to climax, their testaments of life, hewn from the redemptive work of Christ, cannot be ignored.

Mary Magdalene is an interesting character. This woman, who was sprung from the jaws of death at the very last minute, teaches us the pricelessness of a second chance. She was not just mindful of her escape from the torture of stoning; she valued the opportunity to live; to live again. The intervention that staved off the mob was touching. It was so quietly, yet, so powerfully done. A man, just one man, with his gentle but earnest ways, holding off and then dispersing that mob baying for her blood, with great calm and confidence. She sensed the personal attention to her life by this miracle worker. Was this not a life – restoring mission? In the days that followed, Mary spotted the consistency about the preacher. The waves of merciful love that radiated from the man the day he saved her also flowed in his ministering at neighbourhoods, villages and towns. Mary perceived the light because she was attentive and disposed. Valuing life, she cherished even more, the source of her new enlightenment, both in adoration and gratitude. And the once notorious prostitute swore to a revolution of the new life. In this response, there could be no demarcating between the morning rays of the good news and the loving charm of the man the Jews called rabbi. Her faithfulness to the Redeemer, all through the frightening drama of crucifixion, up to the lonely graveside, is an epic of moral reinvention, faith and love. Mary Magdalene’s odyssey speaks to the permissive lifestyle of our age that celebrates adultery and idolatry. One of the principal causes of divorce is infidelity, with psychology attributing a significant measure of deviant behaviour and crime to broken homes. Mary Magdalene shows us that both individual and society can make amends and renew themselves.

Veronica, the woman mentioned at the sixth Stations of the Cross is another wonderful being. I have often pondered at the depth of her soul, wondering what beautiful thoughts animated her spirit. One apocryphal commentary was of the view that Veronica had been practicing kindness and compassion in her everyday life before that fateful day. The import of this suggestion is that the gesture she extended to Christ was possible because it came naturally from her. Perhaps so. Yet, another commentary suggested that she had dipped the cloth in water before stepping forward to soothe the sting of blood and hot sweat on Christ’s face. However, the central message for us cannot be lost. It was not just her courage. She practically put her life on the line by her action. In the patriarchal Jewish society of the time, in an assembly of soldiers and a mob blind with rage, what she did was out of this world. Her unconcern about her personal safety might appear reckless but she listened to her conscience. Veronica voted for humanity. Her intervention was a rebuke to the maddening crowd. You don’t treat anyone this way. No one, regardless of the offence, deserves to be brutalised so cruelly. This is sickening, her powerful gesture proclaimed. She was said to be a bystander, but it’s possible she had heard about the man of Galilee who went about doing good. Perhaps, she was thinking, could he really be the messiah? It would seem that the imprint of Christ’s image on her veil was not just a thank you response but also a message of revelation. If there’s nothing else our society will take away from Veronica’s compassion, it’s to put a stop to jungle justice, to the inhuman lynching of suspects.

In recent times, the example of Rosa Parks has shown us that resignation is not the answer to injustice. Returning from work on December 1, 1995, in Montgomery, Parks alongside three other blacks were directed to move to the back of a bus to make room for white passengers at the front. The driver’s demand, to which the other three blacks complied, was backed by law. Nonetheless, Rosa Parks refused to budge. Upon James Blake, the driver’s report, she was arrested and fined in court. The sanction triggered a chain of boycotts, protests, marches and lawsuits against racial inequality in the United States. Parks herself was in the forefront of this civil rights campaign. A year later, in November 1956, Alabama’s segregation law was voided by the Supreme Court. The movement had ripple effects, sweeping away racial segregation practices in other affected states. Tributes to Mrs Rosa Parks capture the salient points of her activism. Wikipedia writes of the wide impression of her as a “quiet, dignified heroine whose singular act inspired change.” At www.ushistory.org, she “quietly incited a revolution – by just sitting down.”

Finally, there’s our own emerging voice for responsibility in government. Recently, Senator Natasha Akpoti – Uduaghan served notice of a campaign against the arrogance of power in Nigerian government and politics. Many of us are not in a position to comment on the merits or otherwise of her sexual harassment allegations against the Senate’s presiding officer. But the leadership’s response to the complaint was unsettling. It was one of how dare you! The punitive sanctions visited on the complainant were scandalous for their overreach, pettiness as well as abuse of officialdom. Many are alarmed at the vicious attempt to crush dissent, to impose a climate of intimidation and fear in the legislature. By Jove, what remains of democracy when elected legislators have to cringe at the weapon of suspension dangling over them? How do elected representatives of the people push the interests of their constituents where the system coerces them into “yes men” and women? Senator Natasha’s challenge of power corruption, her refusal to be bullied into silence and submission is remarkable. The battles she is fighting are well beyond private spheres. They are in the interest of good governance. And that’s why she has strong public support. Her constituency empowerment programmes are reportedly first class, further enhancing her profile. Her focused activism, which has so far brushed aside distractions, is a ventilation of motherhood.