Mama Always Said

I like to muse about the family gatherings which will take place when I have passed into eternity.  I think about my grown children gathering over food, discussing politics and the weather, dandling my grand- and great-grandchildren on their knees.  From my own experience at family reunions, I know the topic of conversation will eventually turn to me.

What will they take away from their years under my care and tutelage?

Will they be angry and resentful, mocking me as sometimes we mocked the quirks of my late grandmother?

Or will they laugh with joy at shared memories of the fun things we did?

Will they bring up my sayings?  “Mama always said…”

What will they remember from the snippets of common sense which are my platitudes and sentence-long commentaries?

“Use your head to save your heels.”  I got that from my Auntie Peggy.

“Pride goes before a fall.”  My grandfather quoted that the day I fell from a guardrail because I refused to hold his hand while I walked along it.

“No work, no eat.”  It’s biblical.

But I know the one they will remember the best.  I’m sure, because they always join in like a chorus when I start to say it:

“When you’re disobedient, bad things happen.”  This one is original.  It’s true, though, at several levels, and I wonder if as spiritual or physical parents themselves they will see its facets.

Mama’s platitude in Natural law:  If you jump off a cliff in rebellion against the law of gravity, no amount of self-assurance in your ability to fly will resist the law of gravity.

Mama’s platitude in the law of “no-brainer:”  If you must defy common sense by standing on a swivel chair to hang curtains, expect a heavy landing.

I think God enjoys supporting our parenting efforts by making our quotes come true.  Some may call it Murphy’s Law, but I know better.  It’s Mama’s rule of direct proportion between disobedience and the occurrence of ‘bad things.’  Like when the Baseball Hall of Fame wannabe is facing the house during batting practice.  Or when Jimmy insists on treating the kitchen chair like a rocker.  Or when your budding kitchen apprentice drinks the vanilla anyway.  Or the possessor of her first credit card goes shopping.

When we’re disobedient, bad things happen.

It goes deeper, though, to the level of God’s parenting of us.

If we insist on disobeying God through sin, bad things happen.  

Sin happens.  Yes.  And so do the consequences, whether we make our way to the confessional or not.

Without confession, our small disobediences rack up a debt on our spiritual credit cards we cannot pay, and whose collection agencies require our souls.

Even if our relationship with God is healed through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the effects of our sin carry on.  Broken health.  Broken dreams.  Unfulfilled purpose.

When we’re disobedient, bad things happen.

Today, I was reading from John chapter 5, where Jesus heals the man who had been lame for 38 years.  After the supreme humility of disappearing into the crowd before he can be thanked, Jesus meets the now mobile man in the Temple.  

“Now you are well again, be sure not to sin any more, or something worse will happen to you,” He says.

See, kids?  It’s in the Bible!  If you’re disobedient, bad things happen.

I wonder if my children will get it.

Jesus wonders if I will ever get it.

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