Abraham, Jesus and Mom 


Jim reflects on his mother and the nature of his and her faith. 

I’ve been in Ohio for the week visiting my aging mother. There’s a lot to say about mom. For example, I’ve spent the better part of 25 years following up on genealogy leads she gave me. She’s a gold mine of information on family history. I could tell you that she’s well loved by nearly everyone: neighbors, old and new friends, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. She’d be most proud if I told you she was a devout believer in Jesus Christ, and that even now she does her best to testify to His truth. I could tell you about the time I caught her eating donuts when she was supposed to be on a diet, but it is a visual joke, not so funny on the internet.

But there are a couple of things that I would like to share.

Mom is a Scrabble fanatic. I bought her a Deluxe Scrabble set back in 1964, and she is still using it every day. She lives alone in her home, but with the help and support of her son and daughter, who look in on her frequently. The neighbors help out with the yard and keeping an eye on things. Lorene is now slowly losing her eyesight, Reading the newspaper is a challenge and the grass across the street looks kind of white. But she still gets her Scrabble board out every day and plays herself a game. She plays her right hand against her left, and sometimes center too. I’ve razzed her about this, claiming that I play my right foot against my left.

When Stephen and I come to visit her, we know for sure that two or three Scrabble games a day are in store for us, and she will win most of them. This time it’s Lorene, 3, Jim, 2, and Stephen, 1. I know it secretly delights her that she regularly tromps the tar out of two Ph. D.’s Most of her grandkids won’t even play her very often. Yesterday, she made the word “glitz,” with the “z” on the triple letter square and the whole thing on double word, so she came out with 70 points. And she scored 70 points one other time. Used all her letters. Here she is, barely seeing the board, and she is still playing just below championship level. It is amazing. I’ve taken to bragging on her, and of course, she will have none of that, but I insist.

The other thing is that I’m proud of myself on another matter. Mom believes that we are in the “latter days” and Jesus Christ is soon to return and “leave no stone unturned” until things are set right. When I was much younger, it made me mad. Later I would get frustrated, thinking we could have a conversation about this. Still later, I would ignore it. But now I think I am getting a little bit closer to the charity I strive for. First of all, I’m grateful that she can have this comfort. Second, I have begun to see that we only know God through our stories, and this is her story.

And third, I get to tell my story. Lorene isn’t likely to think it’s on the right track. I have to let go of the hope of pleasing her, though. The way I see it is that what we humans all have in common is that we ARE truth seekers. In the end, no one is going to come along and give us a grade. That was back in school. We’re out of school now, and we must decide for ourselves what the truth is. Mom has decided, and I honor her choice. Barbara, the atheist, has decided, and I honor her choice. They both made their worlds, and now they have to live and die in them.

The universe I’m making is a hard place to describe. I do think something happened to Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ, Paul, and others. These humans had a God-experience, and then so many people told stories about it, that it’s hard to say what that experience was. Currently, I’m reading Paul’s story. But I’m writing my story. God IS in my world, as possibility. No gendered one, this God of mine, no big talker, no hurler of thunderbolts, no burn-‘em-on-a-spit dude, or that dude’s opposite for that matter. No, when I put my intention on God, I get possibility, not just law-abiding possibility, but the possibility that miracles are made of. And love. My God’s just a presence that I can count on. Present in everyone; mom, Barbara, me, and 7 billion others.  

Posted: Thu - November 3, 2005 at 11:34 AM          

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