On Rooo-heee-yaaaah's Conversations With Her Mother about God at Bedtime: Stephen Hawking was on Charlie Rose

"Mama and I"
Uploaded on January 29, 2008 by ruhiyyihrose on flickr.

Here is my favorite blog mention of "Baha'i" today. -gw

Last night I called up my mom just before I went to bed as is often my custom since it is a decent hour there and I have free minutes then.

"Hi Mama! How are you?" I ask.

"Hi Rooo heee yaaaah! I'm fwwwwiiiinne."

"What did you do today?" I ask, and then she tells me all about her cooking, housekeeping, running, reading, blogging, photography, and the latest community activity. This is usually the time when we have our tangental discussions. Especially if she has not had much conversation all day...

"Stephen Hawking was on Charlie Rose tonight and he thinks we need to have humans on other planets" she says.

"Oh boy. That is the guy that does not believe in God, right?" I roll my eyes.

"Yes." She replies, and talks a little more about some of his ideas. It gets me going. My defense from the perspective of a believer in Christ, and hers as a Baha'i. Soon we are talking about how eternity is set in the hearts of man, cultural anthropology, the idea of religion being phased out, U2's Bono (my new hero) and how hard it was for him growing up in Ireland with one parent that was Catholic and another that was Protestant. And how much I love him and his music. That somehow morphed into a discussion of the Creator and the intricities of the human body - how we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" as it says in Psalm 139.

Our discussion of nutrition and health gets her thinking. "I think I am going to live a long time," Mama sighs. "I may outlive you kids! Who will take care of me?" she wonders.

"Mama, you had kids almost into your 40's. Do the math." I giggle.

"Oh. Hmm. Well, will you still take care of me?" she asks. "Yep!" I reply.

We continue the tangent. "That Human Body show on Discovery talked about the importance of good sleep, you know..." she starts.

I am thinking now how it is getting close to midnight. "Yes, it is good for your brain to get rest. Your organs too..." I trail off thinking that I need to get up in 6 hours. "How about you tell me a bedtime story?" I say, like a five-year-old.

Mama pauses. "Hmmm. Now that I think of it, the only stories that I told all you Kids were scary ones! Of haunted houses, the Foolish Grasshopper and Smart Ants, and the Little Matchgirl!" She explains. "Any way I could get you kids to pull those covers over your heads to simmer down..." she laughs.

So much for me drifting off into dreamland. I am all fired up now thinking that I need to lay off sugar, try to get to bed earlier, write a letter to Mr. Hawkins, (and Bono), invest in gold in case the stocks fail, and finish writing my support letters for Uganda. Time is of the essence!

Mama puts my anxieties at rest. "You Got Yer Booties On?" she asks. Funny, since I am always barefoot, but that is her way of asking if I am all tucked in, lights out."

Yep Mama. Love You. G'night!" I reply.

She makes that mother-like giggle sound and repeats my nocturnal closing.

And I slept like a baby.

Ruhiyyih Rose


http://ruhiyyih.blogspot.com/2008/03/evening-chat-with-mama.html
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{Re-posted with permission}