52 Ancestors - Week 13 - Worship

 52 Ancestors - WEEK 13 - WORSHIP    

By Cynthia Keefer Patton

My mom was born in Washington, Pennsylvania and up there people said the word worship as "washup" and the word washing (as in washing machine) as "worshing". So, I found this all quite amusing when I was a small girl and when she would tell us we would go to church to "washup" I was a little confused.

Fast forward to 2024. Mom has been gone from us six years and as the Easter holiday approaches I can't help but wish I would go once more with her to worship at an Easter Sunday service. We were raised Methodist, my father being from the United Brethren before they merged with the Methodist. Church was a big part of our life. Not every Sunday, but most Sundays. Sunday school (my father taught adult classes) and then Worship. After that we would fellowship a while with other members and then off to a great dinner out at something called the Picadilly Cafeteria in Atlanta, Georgia.

We could each take a tray and go down the line asking the servers for this and that to our little hearts desire. With six children in our family I am sure it was pretty expensive even for that time period in the 1960's. Other times we would head straight out to a local lake with a big picnic basket full of fried chicken, potato salad, cookies and lemonade. We would swim and play in the sand. I always loved Sundays in the summer.

As an adult I struggle with being a faithful church goer. My first husband was less than enthuiastic and my second husband cares even less. Still I go alone, just not often enough. It is not to say I am not a believer, just not always attending a worship service. My worship sometimes occurs in the late night or early morning when I speak with God, tell him my dreams and fears, pray for family, and give thanks for life. 

When I was deployed to Kuwait after 9/11, I spent my first ever Christmas away from home. My fellow Soldiers and I had a small Christmas Eve service with flashlights instead of candles. Afterwards I walked out to the edge of the airfield in the desert night and looked up at the moon and stars. I felt the presence of God keeping me connected to my family and friends far away. Probably the most impactly moment of worship in my life.