Chapter three
Where do divorces come from?
Linda
McCullough Moore writes in her story, "You Choose" in her book of
short stories, An Episode of Grace, on pages 1-2,
I
turn the wipers to fast swish and purse my lips and hunch my shoulders, as
though these nods to ritual and posture might give me better traction.
“Where
did this weather come from?” I say.
“Heaven,”
Adam says. “God. Same place as every weather.”
Adam
is six and the only member of our family who is unfailingly religious.
McCullough
Moore, Linda. An Episode of Grace . Thornapple Books.pp.1-2
Comment:
Is
Adam’s comment about the weather coming from God because he is “unfailingly
religious” or because he is still innocent and hasn’t been corrupted yet by the
socialization and conditioning of society?
Linda
McCullough Moore always seem to inject a spiritual consciousness in her writing
which makes it full of grace. The title of this book of Moore’s short stories
is entitled, “An Episode Of Grace” and here, in this first story, as the family
gets stuck in a snowstorm on their way to meeting with the children’s father so
that he, and their mother, driving the car, can share with them the news about
the death of their marriage, their intention to divorce, and breaking up the
these two young boys family as they have known it, we read about a moment of grace which the mother calls "religous.".
The
mother’s question, “Where does this weather come from?” is more than just a
question about the weather. It is a question about the purpose of their
journey, the purpose of their intended mission, the purpose of life.
Dr.
Freud taught us about the unconscious mind and that what we think we are doing
consciously often has little to do with what our deeply held
unconscious thoughts and feelings
are.
Our
will and God’s will are often two different things. The joke pointing to this
truth is “If you want to hear God laugh, tell God your plans.”
The
mother’s question, “Where does this weather come from?” can be said in many
ways such as merely a comment on the fact of the matter, or a sigh of
victimization, and perhaps with a laugh at the absurdity of the situation with
their trip being disrupted in an uncontrollable way.
Adam, at the age of six, still thinks about situations with a concrete innocence that
still believes in Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. Adam
reminds me of the little about a young boy in Sunday School drawing a picture. The Sunday
School teacher asks him, “What are you drawing?”
The
little boy says, “I am drawing a picture of God.”
The
teacher says, kindly, “Well, nobody knows what God looks like.”
The
little boy says, “You will when I am done.”
The
mother chalks up Adam’s comment to religiosity. It might be better understood
in terms of his stage of cognitive, social, and emotional development. Adam is
still innocent and thinks that the weather comes from God. When he is told
about his parents’ divorce, where will he think that comes from?
To be
continued.