NO OTHER FOUNDATION

When Melissa and I were planning our wedding, she asked me what song I would like to dance with my mom. My response- “Mama Tried.”

Perhaps you’ve heard this Merle Haggard classic. In 1968, it rose to number 1 on the Billboard Magazine Hot Country Singles Chart that August. It spent four weeks at the top position. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked it as number 376 of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Below is the chorus:

“And I turned twenty-one in prison doin’ life without parole
No one could steer me right but Mama tried, Mama tried
Mama tried to raise me better, but her pleading, I denied
That leaves only me to blame ’cause Mama tried”

Little did I know, Haggard wrote this song in part from his past criminal behavior. From 1957 to 1960 he spent most of his time in the San Quentin State Prison due to a robbery conviction. Hag said his mother wasn’t at fault for his poor choices, she tried to raise him right and was a devout member of the Church of Christ. She may not have breathed a sign of relief until he was granted a full and unconditional pardon for past crimes in 1972 by then Governor Ronald Reagan.

Melissa denied my request for this to be the song mama and I danced to. That was probably for the best. There is part of me that still thinks it would’ve been funny. I don’t recall the song we danced to, but I do know “Mama Tried.”

Instead of the local Church of Christ, Sandy Yates was a devout member of the local Baptist church that the saints call First Baptist Douglass. She used to drag me and my three brothers to church on Sunday, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and any other night there was a function at the church. She led an AWANAS group and served as the church treasurer for a number of years.

When I think about my mama, I think of the narrative told by Dr. Luke in his gospel account. Read this passage from Luke 10:38-42 (CSB):

“While they were traveling, he entered a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who also sat at the Lord’s feet and was listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks, and she came up and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone? So tell her to give me a hand.”

The Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has made the right choice, and it will not be taken away from her.”

If I’m honest, I think my mama has played the role of both Martha and Mary. Martha knew Jesus was coming. She loved Jesus so much that she wanted the house to be clean. She wanted the meal to be delicious. Jesus comes to her house and her sister does not help her with “her many tasks” and Martha becomes frustrated. My mama can be like Martha. When my brothers and I bring our families to visit for the holidays, mama gets “distracted by her many tasks.” Cleaning the house, putting out decorations, and cooking takes priority.

More often, though, I’ve watched my mama play the role of Mary. When Jesus entered the room, Mary sat at His feet and listened to what He said. There is many a morning that I remember waking up, walking downstairs to eat my bowl of off-brand Fruity Pebbles, to find my mama already awake drinking her cup of coffee and reading her Bible. When I was ten or eleven, she bought me a book about the missionary Jim Elliot that positively impacted my life. She took on the task of homeschooling her four boys, not an easy endeavor. Most mamas would’ve given up on that challenge pretty quickly, but she thought it was important that her boys receive a Christian education. There was always work to be done around the house, but every day started with her sitting at the feet of Jesus, her Bible opened, listening to Him. This is something she continues to practice to this day.

She shines bright for Christ to her husband, children, staff, church community, grandchildren, and even strangers. I remember one time an AT&T sales representative called the house to try to sell us their latest and greatest. By the end of the call, the sales lady had told my mama her life story, and my mama was telling her about Jesus. There were many instances like that.

Yes, my mama can be like Martha, but so can I. May we all try to be like more like Mary and my mama, and sit at the feet of Jesus, listening to what He is telling us.

My mama tried and is trying. She made the right choice and it will not be taken away from her. One thing is necessary, have you chosen rightly?