Mothers Group Reflection #22: Keeping The Story Alive
For her birthday
last fall, I bought a keepsake box for my mom filled with writing
prompts on small cards that we could mail back and forth and work on
together to create a memory box over time. Since we now live 1,200
miles apart, it is a small way to keep the connection alive and to
keep a written record of the old family memories. As we were all were
gifted with a somewhat twisted sense of humor, these cards promise to
be a lot of fun. One of my favorites so far asked us to list favorite
pieces of advice we received from our moms. I thought of all the
serious advice she has given over the years, and yet the thing I
remember most was not said, but lived. It is her humility and
gentleness that she shows in her actions each day. It wasn’t
phrases she used that I could pass along in words so much as it is
just her being. But as I sat down to write, somehow, it was the
not-so-serious stuff, her sense of humor, that made for the best
memories, the things we still laugh about, that still draw us
together:
1. Advice for
boredom: “Spit in your shoe and watch it soak through.” (Catchy
rhyme, totally grossed us out and usually led to complaint number
2...)
2. Knowing your true
identity: “Mom, I’m bored.” Answer: “Funny, you don’t look
like a piece of wood!”
3. When considering
something that will probably end poorly (i.e. we finally found
something to do): “Somebody always gets hurt.” (this was said
with that motherly tone of warning and a sideways glance that said we
should probably reconsider sooner rather than later, and was usually
ignored anyway, to our peril)
4. General advice
for all situations: “Be careful!”
5. My personal
favorite: The Old Wives Cure for Headaches (you know, the
not-really-that-bad-I-just-feel-like-whining-kind): “Have someone
jump on your back so hard you forget about your head.”
6. And last but not
least, advice for those situations where we came running to mom, both
pointing fingers of blame at each other for whatever thing we decided
to do after ignoring advice point #3: “It’s six of one and a half
dozen of the other.” Ugh. Really?!
Total groaners. All
of them. And yet we laugh about them to this day and pass them along
to our own children who also groan at us, as we chuckle at our own
memories. I suspect many of these have been passed along for a few
generations. The collective groan goes waaay back, I’m sure. As we
worked on these cards, I had to wonder at the comments of those that
will come long after we are both gone from this earth, wondering what
on earth is wrong with us. We tossed around the idea of putting a
disclaimer somewhere inside the box in fine print that reads, “If
you are reading this today and don’t get half the jokes and
silently wonder why we are so weird, just remember that you are
related and it doesn’t breed out!”
Funny though these
old memories are, they are also incredibly important, too. I remember
reading in an article or Bible study somewhere awhile back that part
of the reason young people today feel lost in life is that they have
forgotten their story, their identity. I wish I could remember who
the author was that said this. It was great life advice. This doesn’t
just go for our own personal family histories though, it applied in a
much broader way to the story of salvation, in which we all have a
part. When we forget to Whom we belong and the purpose for which we
were made, to love and be loved by our Father in heaven and to love
and serve Him in others, problems ensue.
In our Lenten
retreat, our speaker talked at length about the importance of
taking time to immerse ourselves in the Scriptures. Actually opening
the Bible and reading it for ourselves, as well as the Catechism, and
taking a deeper look at our faith. She made the point that although
we are immersed in Scripture in the Mass readings throughout the
years, as Catholics, we can sometimes forget to actually open the
Bible itself.
I think this is a
point well made and one I often take for granted to mention. I often
neglect this practice myself for the very reason that we are so
immersed in these readings in the Mass and I like to follow the daily
readings as they are in the Missal or various publications, in union
with the Church worldwide. This in itself is a very good practice as
the readings are set to the liturgical calendar and we will learn
much about Jesus and the practice of our faith. However, what we can
miss by not cracking open the actual book is the surrounding context
of the daily reading and even how those stories fit together into the
larger salvation history.
As our speaker pointed
out, there is no need to feel intimidated if you don’t know where
things are. It just takes practice, and we all have to start
somewhere. I still have to go the table of contents or rely on tabs
for many books, even after many years of Bible study. I actually find
the tabs to be very helpful for that reason also, because if you do
enjoy deep Scripture study, you will find yourself going all over the
place to cross-reference things and quickly getting irritated by
having to find each book, particularly the smaller or less used
books. Many Bibles will also include an introduction at the beginning
of each book to explain a little of the history, setting and purpose
of the book, whether allegory, history, poetry, etc.
As we enter into
Holy Week, I encourage you to try something new, if you haven’t
already. A few years ago, I sat down to read one of the Passion
narratives in its entirety, in one sitting, during Holy Week that
year. I’ve heard the challenge to read an entire book of the Gospel
in one sitting, just to get the overall feel and thrust of the story,
and I don’t know about you, but I’m not a fast reader and that
feels completely overwhelming. That said, we can all find time for
the story of Christ’s death, burial and resurrection in one go.
Each Gospel has it’s own focus and each witness recalled different
details, so you may be drawn to one particular book over another.
Whichever one you choose, I know it is a great blessing to see the
whole story in one sitting. What surprised me most was the experience
of Jesus’ overwhelming love washing over me in that moment. I
wasn’t looking for details as I would in Scripture study. I was
just seeing Jesus and immersing myself in the scene at hand. Should
you find yourself in a dry period in your journey, do not despair,
but continue to meditate on it as you are able and ask the Holy
Spirit to enlighten you in time.
I don’t know what
your schedule allows for, but I encourage you to also participate in
as many of the Holy Week services as possible as we walk this last
week of our journey together and relive the beautiful story and gift
of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord. I close today with
a new song that came out recently. I hope it is a blessing to you
also as we draw near to Jesus and celebrate His resurrection and the
new life He brings to each of our lives this Easter. He is risen!
“Is He Worthy?”
by Chris Tomlin
Thoughts for
further reflection:
How do you
usually celebrate Holy Week? How can you incorporate the Scriptures
and Masses into your schedule this week? Consider creating some time
in your schedule each week in order to immerse yourself in the full
salvation story in the Bible.
Photo Credit: Aaron Burden, StockSnap.io
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