Pietà, Mother

The greatest stories ever told

With every new life you bring us,
Is potential you dare not comprehend.

With every new life you bring us,
Is potential for your greatest suffering.

Knowing sooner or later,
The world will destroy us.
Knowing every moment of Being is worth the suffering.

You nurture our strength to face inevitable suffering,
Because every instant of Being devours its shadow.

In the face of great suffering,
You chose the potential of Being.
You may never say it,
But you know.

In awe at your willingness to face such suffering,
For the actuality of Being,
We may fail to say it,
But we know.

I cannot help but think of these ideas when I look at this picture. The connection with motherhood is a connection with eternity. Every mother who came before and every mother who will come is connected through an evolutionary process that extends beyond even our species. But it goes further than that.

It immerses women in a cosmic drama and connects them to the primary function of Being itself. Pietà, this sculpture, is the greatest story ever told nested within the greatest story ever told. One cannot exist without the other.

There may be nothing deeper than this connection. It is a primary connection for all of nature, wether becoming a mother or coming from a mother, or both. A primary connection that sustains humanity itself.