The Hand That Rules The World

THE HAND THAT RULES THE WORLD

1997 by Mark Beaird

Proverbs 31:25-31

ƒÞ Paul Harvey, in his Rest of the Story series, had this to say about the importance of mothers. ¡§Fellows...can you be too close to your mother? From Freud to the present, the analyzers of the human mind have considered one relationship to be most important: the male with the mother figure. When this relationship goes too far, some say, it becomes a Mother Complex.

All right. Here they are. Meet the mama’s boys...

Of James, it was said, there was never a more devoted son. His relationship with his mother was close...lasted a lifetime. What impressed James the most was his mother’s unfailing confidence in him, the kind of blind confidence that only a mother can express...and mean it. Even on his deathbed, James’s agony could only be overcome...by writing his mother.

Ted...was eternally seven. Throughout his entire life, his friends warned those about to meet him that Ted was only seven years old. Why? Well, Ted was a mama’s boy. Letters to his mother began, "Darling Beloved Little Motherling." She had a compulsion for cleanliness, and so did he. Back and forth. Ted and his mother...were one and the same.

Now for Bill. Bill’s mother put it this way: "I find that Willie needs constant watching and correcting. It requires great caution and firmness, but I do not believe we can love our children too much." You can imagine how Bill turned out.

Woody was another unashamed mama’s boy, physically and emotionally clinging to his mother virtually into adulthood. There was only warmth between the two, and Woody often recalled that he came to love the best in womanhood through those apron strings.

Frank wouldn’t dare go to school without his mother. And the school...was Harvard University. Frank’s mother had an extraordinary drive for perfection, and she focused it all on Frank. For six full decades she tried to organize her son’s life in minute detail...and Frank loved every minute of it.

Harry’s mother mothered Harry quite a bit. She sat up with him countless times when he needed her. Is it any wonder that Harry returned the favor continually throughout his life? Harry’s mother lived to be 94 and, right up to the last, there was Harry...conducting business matters from his mother’s bedside. You see, Harry was a mama’s boy too.

And what about David? When David was a big boy in the Army, he never stopped writing his mother. In fact, he once swiped a Top Secret directive to order a Mother’s Day Card.

All through David’s life, he subconsciously imitated mama. Her laugh. Her expressions. The simplest smile.

But, then again, John imitated his mother too. They were all mama’s boys. In times of crisis, it was always mother who came to mind.

So, fellows...can you be too close to your mother?

Well, if you can’t, you might turn out like James Garfield. Or Teddy Roosevelt. Or William Howard Taft. Or Woodrow Wilson. Or Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Or Harry S. Truman. Or Dwight D. Eisenhower. Or John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Even Lyndon Johnson’s most cherished school paper was entitled: "I’d Rather Be Mama’s Boy."

They were not afraid of their filial affection...and they each became President of the United States.

And if the psychologists who suspect the Mother Complex sense a reversal in the trends of greatness, well...have you ever heard of Lillian Carter?

Her little boy is the rest of the story.¡¨ (Harvey, 8-9)

There is perhaps no greater illustration of the old saying that the "hand that rocks the cradle rules the world" than the previous story. And perhaps there is no greater testimonial for the life of a mother than for her children to "rise up and call her blessed." Of all the opportunities given to a mother, none can be greater than that of the opportunity to mold and influence the life of a child. Today, it is more important than ever for mothers to recognize these opportunities.

Look with me at three opportunities of which mothers need to be aware.

I. MOTHERS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MOLD

PERSONALITIES.

A. Scientists say we are born with 50% of personality intact. Some things are

nature.

B. God has given the other 50% to moms. Some things are nurture.

II. MOTHERS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO MOLD

BEHAVIOR.

A. Compassion, love, giving, purity, self-sacrifice are all taught--these do not

come naturally.

She must instill these qualities in her children because she can never control who they may find themselves around.

ƒÞ A mother was concerned about her only son going off to college. She wrote the following letter to the college president:

"Dear Sir: My son has been accepted for admission to your college and soon he will be leaving me. I am writing to ask that you give your personal attention to the selection of his roommate. I want to be sure that his roommate is not the kind of person who uses foul language, or tells off-color jokes, smokes, drinks, or chases after girls. I hope you will understand why I am appealing to you directly. You see, this is the first time my son will be away from home, except for his three years in the Marine Corps." (Hewett, 376-77)