Mama Mondays

 

  We Know The Ache We are all familiar with the searching and the longing. All of us. -Winn Collier  “Mary in Rocker,” William Schickel The Revolution’s new ideologies left Olga Alliluyeva, Joseph Stalin’s mother-in-law, hollow and cold. The regime insisted they were freeing the masses from superstition and religion. Enlightened humans didn’t need God anymore. But weathered Olga knew something different; she felt the fire fading. The ancient stirring called to her, and Olga returned to her Orthodox faith. Stalin and the other adults in the family were bemused by her simpleton ways. They allowed a decrepit old woman in her dying years the quaint comfort of her naive ideas and fairy tales. But the grandchildren mocked her. “Tell us, Babushka? Where is your soul? Show us where your soul is.” Once, Olga answered quietly: “I can’t show you your soul, but you will know it when it aches.” When our boys were young, there was a common ethos suggesting it was backwards, maybe even oppre...

Katherine shared this post about Neal's new song that came out on May 9th, and I listened to it after my night run (in the wee hours of Saturday morning) and was in tears. It's such a beautiful song, and it seems perfect for this week ahead with Anna's graduation that we get to celebrate together. Like Jen Hatmaker said in her Mother's Day post, "Where in God's earth did 22 years go?"  https://youtu.be/TdegOeGY__c?si=XXZ-X1fIMZwQvOfg This Holy Moment  we ran outside to catch the colors of the sunset  to drink it in like it's communion wine  we put our feet in the mountain stream beside us  filled up both our souls from deep inside  my arm around my daughter  we were speaking without saying  so close that in the stillness she must have heard me praying  keep me right here Lord in this holy moment  hands full of heaven and eyes full of wonder  knowing I can let go and not worry where time is going  so keep me right here Lord in t...

  from Drew Jackson's book of poetry: God Speaks Through Wombs