Are you my mother?

A quick post during a free at school:

This weekend I was fortunate to have several outings to attend in which I met some of the most interesting, single young men and women in my area. As a relatively introverted person (though I can come across as extroverted), I did a lot of people-watching as well as conversing. The most natural thing to ask at this stage when meeting a young professional is, "Well, what do you do?" It was so reassuring that other people my age were out in the world, wholly committing themselves to some really meaningful occupation or another, always at the service of something larger than their own gain.

I was particularly thinking about the single women whom I was engaging.  Now, only I would really be thinking about this at a party, but I was wondering how if it is true that the "crowning" of our femininity lies in motherhood, how are each of us fulfilling the feminine genius that JPII talks about?  How is a young, single professional possibly considered a mother?  

The only answer that came to me was that no matter if we are wives, mothers, single, infertile, widows, etc., we are all inherently spiritual mothers...spiritually maternal.  All of our efforts are directed at some good, and since no man is an island, everything we do affects someone else...we are always nuturing through our work.  Now, it might be a bit more obvious to someone like me who is a teacher to have "children," but they need not be right in front of you or younger than you for you to be nurturing them.  You might never know them.  They might be older than you are, or they might live across the world.  But since we are all sons and daughters of God, we are always and everywhere serving God's children.  How very maternal of us.