Jamál (Beauty), 8 Kalimat (Words), 165 BE – Sunday, July 20, 2008 about 6:38 AM PDT
On Sunday morning, my Grandma Newland always went to church. She went to a Southern Baptist Mission in Blackwell, Oklahoma. The littler church was located in the Smelter Heights in what many considered the wrong side of the tracks. The rail roadtracks separated the Heights from the rest of Blackwell.
On Sunday morning, Grandma would get up, take her shower, get ready for church and then get the rest of us up (if we weren't already up). Grandma would put on her apron and fix breakfast for us. After breakfast, before leaving for church, she would wash the breakfast dishes and put them away. This done, Grandma would make sure we were all ready to go. My grandparents and four kids would get into Grandpa's car (usually a Ford or a Chevy) and Grandpa would drive us to the little mission, which the First Southern Baptist Church built in the Smelter Heights.
On Sunday morning, Grandma would set at one end of the pew, Grandpa at the other end and we four children between them. This is where my memory gets a bit fuzzy, because I can't remember whether Sunday school was before the preaching or afterwards. However, I think Sunday school was after the church service, which included preaching, singing and praying. After church, we went home and Grandma fixed the noon meal.
Grandma always fixed a huge meal for the Sunday lunch. She fixed mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, salad, southern fried chicken, and desert, which was usually a pie Grandma made from scratch. If we had pie for desert then there was ice cream to go on the pie.
I am no longer Southern Baptist and I haven't been back to Blackwell in over thirty years. Yet I still remember Grandma on Sunday morning sitting beside me in a wooden pew. Grandma taught me that I didn't have to wait until Sunday to pray. Grandma helped me learn the Lords Prayer and the Twenty Thirds Psalms, both of which I still remember.
Another thing I remember from my childhood. I could memorize prayers and scripture verses much easier then I can today. It takes me longer to memorize scripture verses today then it did then. I still work at memorizing them, but now I have to review them everyday or every other day or I forget the verse. Right now I'm working on memorizing prayers revealed by Baha'u'llah, the Bab and 'Abdu'l-Baha. I have the some prayers memorized that I read everyday, but it takes longer to memorize a prayer.
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