We have taken a break from the usual bible study class. We resume next week, July 11, 2010. Same place, Tabernacle Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia; Same time, 9:30am. In the meantime, however, I am enjoying a much welcomed and much needed break to reflect upon more personal matters. June is a hard month for me. Five years ago, at the age of 57, my father passed away three days after the Christmas holiday. He was a revolutionary, literally and figuratively. He was an artist whose quest for knowing and being true to the reality that there is no definite color, always finds rest in my soul. The irony, is that for some reason, I have been called upon to preach every Father's Day service since his transition. You'd think I would be used to it by now, but it never gets any easier. I believe in some way, he has a hand in this, as I lift him up and share a funny story about him before I preach. I don't think I'll ever run out of stories to share about him and that always makes me smile.
June is also the month that I lost Mama. Mama is my biological grandmother. She legally adopted me at the age of 5. As I think about, it seems a bit peculiar to me that life's happenstance, particularities and events would pull them so close together in memory and, as you'll find out in a moment, in life. You see, my father was terrified of Mama - and Mama, not being too fond of him, certainly didn't do anything to ease his fears. She certainly never lost any sleep over him. After all, he had shown himself to be less than honorable when it came to me and my mother. The truth of the matter is that neither he, nor my mother, deserve any praise concerning my early development. I am grateful, however, that they were the two people through which I entered into this earthly realm. They were and are very talented people, individually and collectively. None of their talents have been lost on me. Yet, that I am still standing today, with some semblance of sanity, really is a tribute to Mama.
But as life goes on, so too do the stories of the living and the dead. On June 27, 2010, a week to the day after Father's Day, and the day before the one year anniversary of Mama's transition, the third brother of my father, proposed to my mother's younger sister and Mama's third daughter! I CANNOT begin to tell you how we got here, but here we are! I find it quite surprising, humorous and yet, rather exciting. It appears that in the spirit world, there has been some reconciliation between my father and Mama. I like to think they have even conspired with the heavenly host to bring this union into being. Some would say the souls of our two families have been and are meant to travel together, for once again, we have joined, both in life, as in death, as one.
Amen - Ase', Ase', Ase'O.
© Dorinda G. Henry, 2010
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