1 Samuel 1:20–28
Hannah had longed for a child all her life, and in her old age God granted her request with the birth of Samuel. In modern parlance he might be described as a ‘rainbow-baby’, though personally I am not keen on that term. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that Hannah loved Samuel as a precious gift.
Given this it’s a surprise to read that, when Samuel was weaned (how old that would have been in that society we are not sure) she brought him to the Temple and gave him to God – for his whole life, as long as he lives.
This year we face a Mothering Sunday when most will not be able to visit their mother. And we do so at a time when those mothers seem more vulnerable and at risk than ever before. How can we bear this?
The answer, and its not an easy one, is to sit a while with Hannah. Hannah loved Samuel as the son of her old age, a very special son. But she recognised that in a very deep way, Samuel was not hers to hold and keep.
She did not stop loving Samuel all her life. Every year she made a new robe for Samuel and took it to the Temple. So, every day Samuel could literally clothe himself with his mother’s love.
Yet, she let him go into the Lord’s hands. Hannah shows us that we can love and still let go; that loving we can see letting go into God’s hands as an act of costly love.
I don’t think that there is any easy way to do this and only God can help us to do it. But the reality is that we are all, first of all, in God’s hands. We may love our mother (or children, family or whoever) and feel as if that loved one is ours in some way, but first of all every one of us is God’s. And though we love and care for those we love, we will not be able to do everything for them that our love wants to do. Only God can hold, nurture and keep them, so that no one can take them out of his hands.
So, let us sit with Hannah and learn how she did this. Let us place our loved ones in God’s hands, even when this feels like letting go from our hands. And let us trust his love and power – so much greater than ours.
We can still make our robes for them, however that may be; in phone calls, gifts and above all our prayers.