The culture we live in often seems marked by a dearth of heroes. It has role models, mentors, and stars but no one noted for nobility or courage. Might this possibly be because society has forgotten what a hero is? Or have things become so bad that true heroes simply no longer exist?
To me the former seems to be the more appropriate answer. Society is not hero-less; she simply has forgotten what a hero is. In actuality most of us have been in contact with heroes in our daily lives; they are our mothers -- our heroic women, our heroines.
I am brought to this subject after a bit of reflection on the very difficult position some of my friends are in here at Dartmouth. These young women want to be wives and stay-at-home mothers. In choosing this they would be giving up chances at wonderful careers and further study. This is a great sacrifice in itself which comes close to warranting being described as heroic. But I think the much greater sacrifice comes in having to face the societal pressure -- clearly evident here at Dartmouth -- which continually suggests to them that motherhood is a ridiculous choice. More than this, the regnant orthodoxy, holds that motherhood is of little value or of much less value than anything the world can offer. Motherhood is an also-ran in the race of choices that young women should make. It is considered to be limiting and narrow and the very pinnacle of victory for patriarchal man.
But what can be a greater or more magnificent choice than motherhood? And what can be a more important job -- to use a poor term -- than motherhood? The mother is at the very heart of the family. And though the family is something recently attacked and disparaged with great vitriol, I can hardly think of anything else so important for society. As G.K. Chesterton wrote, " the business in the home is nothing less than the shaping of bodies and souls of humanity. The family is the factory that manufactures mankind." The mother becomes then the shaper and sculptor of humanity. This is no small task but perhaps the most important of all tasks entrusted to humanity. Trading stocks, litigating, politicking, and other of the sundry activities man engages in simply pale in comparison to motherhood. They cannot even hold a candle. And yet society still views those who choose the road less taken to be making a foolish and impudent choice.
A second charge leveled against the choice of motherhood is that is limiting. Where in the world, a woman can do and experience a variety of things, be broad as it where, as a mother she is living a narrow existence. At first glance this charge might have a certain validity. The mother works with a very small group of people -- her children -- and does many of the same tasks in day in and day out. Chesterton again answered this charge better than I could. He spoke of the mother as one who needs to have a plethora of interests and strengths; she must not be the best at any of them. But she must be good at many of them. As our own experience teaches us, our mothers are often the ones who cook, clean, sew, tell stories, and do all the in between. This is a wide range; hardly, a narrow focus. And each and every day she does these things and more. Certainly, they can become humdrum and stultifying. But so can most things including the most high powered law firm in New York. And of course that is why our mothers are heroines. It has nothing to do with a singular and spectacular act of courage; rather it has to do with daily acts of courage through the drudgery and through the insults thrown at women.
And it is another reason those friends of mine who are many the extraordinary choice to be mothers are so edifying to me. They speak of something larger than themselves. Something I, too, often forget. It is a courage I certainly lack. Pope John Paul II wrote words of thanks better than I ever could have: "We thank you, heroic mothers, for your invincible love! We thank you for the sacrifice of your life " Thank you mothers for being our heroic women
