by WALTER REDDEN
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let’s get real
Mother’s TENDER TOUCH I can still hear the joyous timbre of her voice as she would sashay through the house humming her favorite hymn. Mother was also a home missionary. She did not take special courses nor did she ever receive a certificate designating her as a home missionary; but she was a missionary in our home. Some women have a space called a “sewing room.” Mother had a card table, loads of reference/study books and her Bible in her study. She taught a ladies’ Bible class for many years and, before the Bible class began at her church, Mother was the church pianist. She was not a great musician but much more than a joyful noise maker, singing (as I might) in a monotone voice. Mother was so well prepared each Sunday. The ladies would come out of Bible study laughing and smiling as each took her regular pew seat at church. Her appreciation was awarded by a lovely plaque. One thing Mother pulled out of her child psychology bag is now indelible in my mind. The method of teaching me a beautiful poem, when I was a child, is a cherished possession. The poem was placed in the corner of the mirror of our medicine cabinet. Mother never made mention of the poem. She never ever called the poem to my attention. Facing the
mirror each day, as I learned to shave, the glint of the poem is now a rather large part of me— and it is as follows:
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M
other was a teacher for a halfcentury. One’s ties to the “good old days” never really disappear.
The Secret
“I met God in the morning when my day was at its best, and His presence came like sunrise, like a glory in my breast.
All day long the presence lingered, all day long HE stayed with me, And we sailed in perfect calmness o’er a very troubled sea.
So I think I know the secret, learned from many a troubled way, You must seek HIM in the morning if you want HIM through the day.” – Ralph Cushman
Walter Redden is a husband, father, grandfather and Air Force Veteran. He lives in Jackson.
metrochristianliving.com ❘ MAY 2011 11