No, this isn’t going to be a “Mommy Dearest” sort of expose. I’m not writing about the tyranny of my own mother. Not the tyranny of any one’s mother, but rather the tyranny imposed by the day, itself.

It is a wonderful thing to honor one’s mother, to give gifts and let her know that she is appreciated. It was a nice thought that inspired the people that proposed and then enacted an annual day to honor mothers.

However, I am not in favor of coercion with even the best of intentions, and Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, even Secretary’s Day contain an element of emotional bullying along with the flowers and candy.

While I enjoy pleasing my mother and letting her know I appreciate all she’s done for me in my life, I resent being told when I am obligated to do it.

Being on the receiving end of duty-gifts isn’t much better. When my boys ask what I want for Mother’s Day, I inevitably reply that they don’t need to get me anything. It isn’t that I wouldn’t like to receive flowers or some small token chosen to please me. I would just rather have a spontaneous hug and an “I love you, Mom” delivered from the heart.

Sometimes you hear folks say how they think “free will” was one of God’s less successful ideas, but I understand why he did it. Love and obedience that is forced has little value when compared to the real article. I think that God doesn’t want our duty-gifts delivered every Christmas and Easter, or even every Sunday. He would probably much rather have the spontaneous “I love you, Lord” welling up from a believer’s heart.