Mary by Patty Griffin

Mary by Patty Griffin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOxpvKuEruk

When I was about fourteen, I was at some Methodist campground in Tennessee, I'd been running a vacation Bible school with my youth group. One night near the end of the week, in a big circle of kids around a campfire, I prayed aloud for God to be a mother to me.

You see, my mama was really sick at the time. She had a brain tumor and she was losing her memory. My dad was doing the very best that he could—trying to be a dad and take care of my mom at the same time. But I needed a mama, and, well, I didn't see why God couldn't do that.

Some minister came up to me later that night, and told me that it had taken him years to realize that God could be a mama. He encouraged me and praised me for knowing this so young. It just made sense to me.

I was enveloped in church life and god-language, and, well, if God was really all that we claimed then being a mother shouldn't be too hard.

Right?

I'm still amazed at how hard it is for us to allow God to be a woman. I am blessed that I got to see this at fourteen.

Because for me, God "is covered in treetops, [she's] covered in birds." She is the very holy ground we walk on—covered in roses and ruins. She stays behind and starts cleaning up the place, and always she stays.

Now, my mama kept getting sicker, and she died when I was seventeen, but I was surrounded by a community that loved me. In all my little girl sadness, I knew that I was loved. When I stopped being mad at God, and looked back at my sad little girl self, I saw that I had never been alone. Casseroles came to my house, and I was held on Sunday mornings by mamas who had watched my mama grow up.

Church can be an incredible thing—the very body of the very living God, and she will always stay. I believe this—give my very heart to it. It comforts me and sustains me. Our bruised and broken God knows what it is to mourn, to grieve, and we are not alone.

peace, and all that jazz,

~Mary Rachel

Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ashes

You're covered in rain

You're covered in babies, you're covered in slashes

You're covered in wilderness, you're covered in stains

You cast aside the sheet, you cast aside the shroud

Of another man, who served the world proud

You greet another son, you lose another one

On some sunny day and always stay, Mary



Jesus says Mother I couldn't stay another day longer

Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face

While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory

Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place



Mary she moves behind me

She leaves her fingerprints everywhere

Every time the snow drifts, every time the sand shifts

Even when the night lifts, she's always there



Jesus said Mother I couldn't stay another day longer

Flys right by me and leaves a kiss upon her face

While the angels are singin' his praises in a blaze of glory

Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place



Mary you're covered in roses, you're covered in ruin

You're covered in secrets

You're covered in treetops, you're covered in birds

Who can sing a million songs without any words

You cast aside the sheets, you cast aside the shroud

Of another man, who served the world proud

You greet another son, you lose another one

On some sunny day and always stay

Mary, Mary, Mary