Let's Celebrate Mother's Day the Way It Was Intended

Happy Mother's Day!

As you take Mom out for an expensive brunch, present her with gift cards for a spa treatment, or call her from across the miles, why not think about the real meaning of Mother's Day?

Yeah, just like Christmas, the original meaning of Mother's Day has been buried under an avalanche of commercialization. And this is a good time to revive the day's original focus.

Originally, Mother's Day in the U.S. was an anti-war idea.

In the post-Civil War era, Julia Ward Howe came up with the idea of a Mother's Day for Peace. Howe had seen the ravages of war and wanted women around the world to unite against war and to work to find way to resolve disagreements peacefully. She wrote a declaration urging a world-wide congress of women to work for peace, and Mother's Day for Peace celebrations were held in numerous cities during the 1870s and 1880s. Howe, however, never succeeded in getting Mother's Day for Peace formally recognized.

That was left to Anna Jarvis, who started a Mother's Day at a West Virginia church in honor of her mother, who had worked to improve sanitation for soldiers during the Civil War. The idea spread to 45 states before President Wilson signed a measure establishing Mother's Day in 1914. The measure said nothing about peace.

But Jarvis quickly became annoyed about the way American business took over Mother's Day and protested the selling of flowers and cards to observe the day.

Jarvis probably would be appalled with today's focus, to say nothing of Howe.

So besides taking Mom to lunch today, how about doing something to honor the original intent? Resolve to do something on behalf of peace, including:

Sign a petition urging China to stop the sale of arms to the Sudan.

Urge world leaders to boycott the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics in protest of China's repression of Tibet.

Call Rep. Mike Rogers and urge him to bring American troops home from Iraq. His D.C. office number is (202) 225-4872. His toll-free number in Michigan's 8th District office in Lansing is (877) 333-6453.

Make Mom proud. Do something for peace!