Naleighna Kai's Literary Cafe Magazine May - Mother's Day Issue | Page 14

Janine A. Ingram When a child is born, a mother is also born. “The mother is the gateway of all human life. When the mother is honored and respected she becomes the channel of power, creativity, beauty, which means joy reigns on earth…” In the movie “Malcolm X”, Malcolm told his wife, Betty, “That a nation can rise no higher than its woman.” Why? “Because the woman is the first teacher… Years ago, I went to a retreat for woman and we learned to become acquainted with our limitless and immeasurable value so that we can realize our true potential and rise to our proper place as the mother of civilization. The main thing that I took away was the sentiment: when you teach a woman, you teach a nation. The “Womb” is the workshop of God and that the “Mother” is the Divine Self of God. Those two thoughts left me feeling as though there was something delightful in being a mother or maybe even pleasurable in being a woman when many of my life experiences had not reinforced that truth. I also realized that at that point that I had never embodied the fullness of being a mother.