Do You Have a Spirit Parent?
By Rev. Dr. Daryl C. Greene

Born in 1896, my grandfather, Whitfield Reid, left home at the age of 14. He could not wait to get out from under his mother's roof. His father had been a preacher. He died of pneumonia, after preaching a revival in the snowy Adirondack Mountains. Grandpa was only two years old when his mother followed in her husband's footsteps, becoming an evangelist in the Church of the Nazarene. She supported herself and her two boys by working as a cook at a Christian boarding school. They had no family life. The boys lived with the other students. During the summers the mother left her two boys with her parents in Brookline, New York, while she went on her preaching tours. Every night the old folks took turns beating the two boys with a razor strap, whether they had done anything wrong or not.

After finishing the eighth grade, grandpa took a job working on a farm for room and board. Lady Bowen and her invalid husband were graceful and warmhearted. They appreciated his work on the farm and discussed the news with him over the dinner table. Lady Bowen became the mother my grandfather never had. By the time he enlisted in the Army in WWI, she had transformed a scrawny, nervous teenager into a strong, confident, capable young man.

In my own case, there have been three men who took me under their wing and helped me become the man I am today. Have you been lucky enough to know someone who "mothered" or "fathered" you in a way that your own biological parents could not? When speaking of good friends, we often say that they are "kindred spirits". So I call these mothers and fathers "spirit parents."

We usually call our spirit parents "mentors". Sometimes, organizations assign older people to be mentors. Certainly we can learn from them. Sometimes they even turn into true mentors. But true, life changing mentoring only takes place when the older person and the younger person come to have a mutual admiration for each other.

On Mother's and Father's Day we celebrate our relationships with our biological parents. But in many church calendars, Mother's Day has been renamed "The Festival Of The Christian Family". It has been renamed so people with (blended( families can celebrate their lives and the blessings of having happily married parents, single moms or dads, step moms or step dads. But why not extend this festival for another week and recognize and celebrate our "spirit parents" too?

Dr. Greene is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a resident of Richmond, IN. He is also the author of Benjamin's Dog Joseph, Feeling Better: The Wisdom of the Doc, You Can Feel Better: How to cope with chronic pain and physical disabilities, and co-author of Walking Free: the Nellie Zimmerman Story.

For further information about his books, please visit www.densmorereid.com

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