I enjoyed going to Sunday School. Mama would take me every chance she got. This was not very often though. The church and Sunday School that we attended was located on the Southside of Birmingham, miles from our home.
The streetcar or “trolley” line was one-and-a-quarter miles from our house. We had to walk to and from the streetcar that came out to Irondale and only went back as far as Woodlawn. There we would transfer onto another streetcar. Then downtown we would make another transfer to the Southside of Birmingham. Then, finally, we would be there.
It was a long walk to the streetcar line, then a long ride on the streetcars. It took a long time to get from our house to church, but it was worth it. It gave us a chance to dress-up, get out of the house and go somewhere.
I loved the Sunday School teachings. By the time I was seven years old I had memorized the Lord’s prayer, the twenty-third Psalm, the Beatitudes, and Ten Commandments and other passages from the Bible. We had big wooden rockers on our front porch, along with a little rocker that was mine. As soon as I learned to read, Mama would sit in her rocker and have me come sit on the arm. We would read and study our Sunday School lesson. She would read part of it and I would read part.
Mama was a member of the First Church of Christian Science known as Christian Scientist. This is the church in which I was raised. It taught me many things. It taught me to believe in the One and Only God. It taught me that God is omnipotent (all powerful), omnipresent (being everywhere at once), and omniscient (having infinite knowledge). It taught me that Jesus is the Christ, the Promised One. We usually used the expression Christ Jesus rather than Jesus Christ. It taught me that God had created the world and all that is in it, including men and women. It taught me that we are never, ever alone, because God is always with us. It taught me dependence on God, that He is with us at all times to help and take care of us. It taught me that death is not the end of us, that we go on living. That a person (the true person) is spiritual, not materials. I have great respect for that church. It taught me about love, life, family, respect, and caring. One of Mama’s favorite sayings was “there is no spot where God is not.”
So when we set out early on a Sunday morning, walking down the dusty road towards the trolley car line, I was happy skipping along by the side of Mama. It was a great adventure and learning experience.
A few times I went to Irondale First Baptist. One of the boys who was in the same grade at school with me was also in the same Sunday School at the Baptist church. He gave me a big thick book of Bible stories. There were big colored pictures all through the book to illustrate the stories. I spent many happy hours reading and looking at that book.