SubscribeMy mom listened as Oral Roberts preached
Oral Roberts, whose obituary made the front page of today’s Washington Post, became a household name beginning in the in mid-1950s. And our household was no different. News of the pioneering televangelist’s death this week took me back to a childhood where faith in God ruled our home.
My mom enjoyed listening to Roberts’s fiery Pentecostal preaching. His message of faith and healing resonated with her and helped nurture her faith. His early fire-and-brimstone messages bolstered the sermons she heard on Sundays and the Bible teachings she heard during week at the Pentecostal church we attended, Solomon Temple Church of God in Christ. (Fire-and-brimstone sermons scared most, not all, of the mischief out of me as a youngster and led me in search of a less harsh theology.)
As far I can recall, being a holy-roller, as some disparaged those involved in Pentecostalism then, never bothered her. Faith, prayer, healing and miracles seemed a part of her DNA. She believed, as Roberts did, that the Bible is the inerrant word of God and that she could talk with God for herself and for her family. She also believed and taught her six children to believe in having a personal relationship with Christ.
As a kid, I would sometimes walk into her bedroom and see her on her knees praying. If some situation came up in the family, she didn’t stress over it, as least not that I could see, instead she would “go into her prayer closet,” as the old folks would say, and come out assured that God controlled the outcome. Things did work out. Her faith carried our family through many difficulties.
Ours was a working-class family, my mother was a housekeeper at a department store and my dad a laborer at a steel mill. It would have been easy for my mom to get caught up in Roberts’s message of prosperity but I don’t recall hearing her talk about that. She was more of give-your-all-to-God-without expecting-material-things-in-return person. Her spiritual wealth mattered more to her.
My oldest sister, Margaret, also recalled mom’s interest in Roberts wildly popular ministry, which touched millions of blacks, whites and Hispanics through tent meetings and a televised programs.. “He helped developed her faith,” Margaret said.
Her faith helped grow ours.
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