Where does Motherland begin?

Motherland is a definition considered in a different way now by the generation that grows up and even by all generations. A very big number of men and women left the country and among those who remained there are many who still have this desire to leave for other countries. The first themes suggested by the Ministry of Education for September, the 1^st, when the school begins are some that touch the subject of love for the motherland. So, where does motherland begin?

The meaning of the word “motherland”

The word motherland or fatherland proves that this notion starts with the parents, with the father and with the mother, and one of those 10 commandments says about them:

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you. (Exodus 20:12)(NASB)

The first persons that each of us met in this world are the parents: the mother and the father. Motherland begins with them. Then motherland becomes everything that has dealings with them, our brothers, relatives, countrymen, home, village, country, and all that makes us feel good and at home.God entrusted me the ministry to go to other countries and to teach people the Word of God. And many times when I come back and the airplane is over the river Nistru, I feel at home, I feel in my motherland, and I have the feeling I have had in my childhood, when after a day of hard work, all of us came together at home in the evening, near the fireplace, where our mother was waiting for us to retell something interesting.

Motherland is a gift from God

Octavian Paler said:

Every man has only one motherland, others are countries.

When Apostle Paul was in Athens, he said to the Greeks that were at the Areopagus about the salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ and he added:

He (God) made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. (The Book of Acts 17:26–27)(NASB)

So, God gave us a motherland, a land for which we have to be thankful, to seek Him and to live in obedience to Him.

Motherland are people from my nation

I remember, how many years ago I was in Dushanbe, where I visited a school of refugee children from Afghanistan, where the Taliban regime was ruling. When we were in the classrooms, the director, a very pleasant man, asked the children to sing something for us. They began to sing a song, and the only word I understood was “Afghaniston”, because it was repeated very often. While they were singing, some of them began to cry and we, those who were there had our eyes filled with tears, looking at those children that were missing their motherland. Later we arrived in Afghanistan and we saw that people had very difficult life conditions there than those children who were refugees in Dushanbe. Then, once again I appreciated how much those children loved their country.

Apostle Paul loved the Jewish people very much, he was one of them and he did all he could for their salvation. Anytime he reached a city, he went to the Jewish synagogue firstly, to tell them about salvation, even if he was mocked, despised and even beaten harshly in almost all situations. Once he was driven away from the city almost dead, but when he came to his senses, he went to another city and he went to the synagogue of the people from his nation, to serve them with what he had, with the Gospel. At a moment from his life, when he spoke about his nation, the Apostle said:

For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. (Romans 9:3)(NASB)

Apostle Paul wanted the salvation of his nation so much, that he was ready to lack himself from salvation, if it were possible, for the sake of their salvation.

Motherland begins in the heart

Motherland is a great notion for people with great spirit. Valeriu Butulescu has written once:

“Motherland of the pig is where the corn grows higher” (Valeriu Butulescu)

God speaks in the Bible about some of His holy people, who were either born or grown up in slavery, and had never seen their country, or the country of their parents. So, Daniel became a Babylonian slave when he was a teenager. After he studied in a very good school, he was in the service of many kings. He had never had the possibility to go back to his country for the rest of his life, but he had a holy custom to pray three times a day for his country, with the window opened towards Jerusalem. He didn’t stop doing this even when the enemies wanted to take his life, by throwing him into a lions’ den.

Another man with a great spirit was Nehemiah, who was born in slavery and became the cupbearer of Artaxerxes, the king of Persia. Others dream to gain money and position all their life, and when they are given, they are able to sell their parents, only to have them. Nehemiah was not such a person. He could never have peace and he was always interested in the good of his nation, and when he saw that Jerusalem was destroyed and people were in misfortune and put to shame, he cried, he prayed and he fasted many days. Then he asked the king to go and serve those from his country.

Only people with a great spirit can understand and feel what motherland is.

Motherland is where those who love me and those whom I love live

I asked my daughter, Nastica, the same question at the title and I received a very interesting answer from her: “Motherland begins at our home, where my mother and father are, there where my brothers are, where I know that I will always be loved, no matter what happens, they will receive me back with great joy.”

Questions for your students:

If you are a teacher and you want to choose this topic to teach it, I suggest you some questions that you can ask your students and wait for the answer for each question at least from 5 students. Here are the possible questions:

1. What is the motherland?

2. What is not the motherland?

3. What people do you know personally who gave you an example of patriotism?

4. Why do you think some people don’t treasure their country?

5. What is the duty to your country and why?

Translated by Felicia Djugostran