10 --  Woe to the Illusion of “Filial Piety” in Just One Day

On Mother’s Day, the house seems full.All the sons and daughters gather around their mother, yet each one is busy holding a phone, fixing angles, adjusting filters, and taking perfect selfies. Smiles are lifted for the camera, captions are polished, and for a brief moment, everyone looks like the “ideal child” on social media.

But what about the rest of the days?

When the celebration ends and the phones go silent, the mother returns to her loneliness. She returns to her quiet chair, waiting for a call that never comes, a visit that never happens, and a message that is only sent on special occasions. It is as if the hearts of the children function on a “seasonal love” setting.

The scene of children sitting beside their mother on Mother’s Day while their minds are absorbed by their screens is more painful than absence itself. It reveals a bitter truth: they are present in body… but absent in soul.

Woe to the one who believes that a picture can replace a moment of tenderness…
That a post can substitute a warm word…
That the approval of strangers is more important than the smile of a mother who made him who he is.

True kindness is not found in a single day, nor in a photo, nor in a staged memory.
It is found in consistent care, a sincere question, an unplanned visit, and affection that needs no witnesses.

And that mother who sits alone the rest of the year is not seeking celebrations.
She seeks her children — without cameras, without filters, without pretending.
She seeks hearts that feel her, not lenses that document a fake presence.

Woe to those who put their mother behind a screen, raising the phone higher than her place in their lives, believing that a yearly post is enough.
For time passes… chances fade… and a mother cannot be replaced.