Cold Nest Mothers

Kids are leaving for college, and for some mothers, the nest is feeling really cold. In this Genesis text, Hagar has an even bigger problem.

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat … Loneliness is the most terrible poverty.”

Those are the words of Mother Teresa.

They resonate with today’s text, which tells the story of a mother, alone, no food, no water, with a son who’s dying under the sun — the hot sun. And there’s little shade. These words may also speak to us, as pastor Bruce Grindlay noted in e-mail correspondence with us, of the mothers of Darfur/Sudan.

The story of Hagar seems a lot different from the account of many parents who once again have their children with them after a year of college. It’s summer right now and thousands of college kids are crashing at home, maybe working a job or getting caught up on the laundry they saved up since spring break. While moms and dads might be looking forward to the day when their young adult will stop sleeping ...