june 2012
CityLight.org 23
"MaDaddy" is what we called my grand-
father. It's the country way of saying `My
Daddy.' I was so proud to have him as
Madaddy because he was truly an awe-
some leader for our family.
I have learned so many lessons from Ma-
Daddy that I will cherish throughout time
as I teach them to my children. His fa-
vorite Scripture was the parable of the ten
virgins and it is a passage of Scripture he
reiterated to us as children over and over
and over and over.
MaDaddy would read Matthew 25 to us
and sing his favorite song about how he
was glad Messiah saved him, his wife, his
children, and even his friends. He would
then tell us that he was saved, sancti-
fied, and filled with the Holy Spirit. He
would also tell us that after all The Fa-
ther has done for us, `what cha gonna
turn back for now.'
That is one lesson from MaDaddy that I
will never forget. My grandfather passed
from this world to the next on January 14,
2000. He would have been 86 years old
this past March.
I vividly remember, after Madaddy passed
away, that my Grandmother honored his
memory by only wearing white for many
months. In fact, at his funeral, she had the
family wear all white rather than the tradi-
tional all black.
MaDaddy's birthday started me remem-
bering his life and also all the "white" I
saw for the months following his death.
I started thinking about how, historically,
many scholars were known for their tradi-
tion of wearing white in honor of Shabbat
each week. I thought about how brides
and grooms have traditionally worn white
for weddings, how Jewish leaders and
fathers of newborns traditionally wear
white, how traditionally Jews are buried
in white. White. White. White. White.
What is it about the color white?
White is a symbol of morality and purity. It
represents virginity and kindness. It sug-
gests cleanliness, and, at varying intervals
of times in our lifecycle when we strive to
emphasize purity, dressing in white "con-
nects our outward appearance with the
proper frame of mind."
"He would then tell us that he was saved, sanctified,
and filled with the Holy Spirit."
Continued on page 37
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Debra C. Galloway