Mothers and Nature

A particular television commercial from that turbulent, though sometimes groovy, decade known as the 70s sternly warned the viewing public, “It isn’t nice to fool Mother Nature.” According to this thirty-second promotional spot, the difference in taste between the new healthier and less cholesterol-laden margarine and that of good old-fashioned, fat-heavy butter was so minimal that even the wisest of souls (i.e., Mother Nature) couldn’t tell the two spreads apart. Aside from the margarine-versus-butter taste test, I think television viewers were being gently reminded of a more altruistic message: we should leave Mother Nature alone and, as my mama says, “tend to our own rat killin’.” Hmmm…so it seems as though our grand lady of the ecosystem has a way of doing things and taking care of business that is uniquely her own. And while I want to believe that Mother Nature may know how best to care for herself, her home, and her inhabitants, there have certainly been moments and incidents of unexplainable behavior that just don’t make sense. To what end could random, irrational behavior render favorable consequences? Is the answer something only a mother would know?

My own mother’s history with the forces of nature offers testament of unexplained behavior. It may be helpful to know that Southerners are accustomed to their fair share of natural disasters. Tornadoes and hurricanes tear through the South like Yankee generals on a mission. I can remember suffering through and surviving the winds, lightning, and rain of tornadoes and hurricanes that should have left us homeless and perhaps lifeless. So, in preparation for inclement weather, we took great care to do as the weatherman on Channel 13 in Florence, South Carolina, instructed. We knew to get in a closet doorway, hunker down in the bathtub, or take the appropriate position in the hallway should the wind begin to sound like a locomotive train raring down the tracks. But Mama had her own idea. A very contrary idea. An idea for safety prevention that wasn’t remotely rational, logical, and, dare I say, sane?

At the first sound of any wind whipping the pine trees in our backyard or of the house trembling from heavy gusts, she would run to the front door and announce that she was going to run outside and lay down in the frontyard. Daddy would always say, “Are you crazy? What in the hell are people gonna think of you layin’ outside on the front grass?” Mama would respond with some random comment of how being outside was safer than being inside, where the ceiling would fall on her. Daddy would then request that she take her rear (that would be her Alice. S. Smith) and get in the hallway with the rest of us. And so, her moment of irrational behavior and careless understanding would pass, and the Johnson’s would once again survive a storm sent at Mother Nature’s request.

I’ve often wondered whether Mama’s customary threat of running outside and laying in the yard was an unspoken act of defiance that only she could attempt to understand. How could an educated woman, who served for years as a teacher, attempt to explain such incongruent behavior? I won’t be too hard on Mama. In her timeline on Earth, she has been a wondrous person. Her occasional misstep in storm preparedness pales in comparison to her otherwise stellar track record.

But what about Mother Nature’s occasional missteps? How do you explain earthquakes, fires, flood, and famine? How could such spells of disaster be explained or rationalized? When a tsunami struck the coast of South Asia just one day after Christmas in December 2004, the world practically came to a stop. Under blue skies and without warning, one of Earth’s worst natural disasters was set in motion. Ocean waters mysteriously rose and gathered tidal force and speed beyond comprehension. The ripple effect of monstrous waves impacted several countries and millions of lives. Disastrous hardly begins to describe the results. Left behind was a state of ruin that exceeded imagination. Human loss abounded. The world was forever changed. What was Mother Nature thinking? I couldn’t conceive of any response or reason that would help me understand.

And then, Sybil Gleaton, a friend and a mother herself, offered a rather unexpected insight. I use the word insight, because she was adamant that it was not her intention to offer an answer. A Christian, whose faith in God is both steadfast and refreshingly progressive, Sybil reminded me that the Earth takes care of itself in ways that we couldn’t possibly understand or justify. Mother Nature, though brutal and harsh at times, must purge and cleanse so that balance is maintained or restored. Sybil continued by saying that during Mother Nature’s timeline of evolvement and progression, a course of development has been followed that appears rational and sound if you look at the “big picture.” Behavior that defies convention, challenges our faith, and begs our understanding is more uncommon than common. Sybil concluded by encouraging me to consider Mother Nature’s since-the-beginning-of-time track record—a remarkable track record despite an occasional lapse in judgment.

I’m not sure that I was completely satisfied with the insight she offered, but I found some sense of comparative resolution within her words. Mothers and Mother Nature have their particular ways of caring for those and that which are their own. Neither their tenure nor their track record should be judged by a single, occasional lapse in judgment. Consequently, I no longer wonder why Mama had the need to run outside during a storm. And now, I am less prone to question that which Mother Nature may impose upon us. And if I still need to question Why, I resolve to believe that the answer is something only mothers would know.