"MAMA: There is always something left to love. And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing. [Looking at her] Have you cried for that boy today? I don't mean for yourself and for the family 'cause we lost the money. I mean for him; what he been through and what it done to him. Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most; when they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain't through learning- because that ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in himself 'cause the world done whipped him so. When you start measuring somebody, measure him right child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is."Let’s analyze:
MAMA’s sermon above was in response to her daughter. When she said, “Love him? There is nothing left to love.”
So, MAMA starts, "There is always something left to love."- meaning, her daughter should still love her brother regardless of what he had done to her.
The Lord Jesus taught in Matthew 5:43-44a, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you…” – meaning, we should still love regardless of what others have done to us.
MAMA kept on saying, “And if you ain't learned that, you ain't learned nothing. [Looking at her]” – putting a strong emphasis why her daughter should know this.
The Lord Jesus taught, in Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” – putting a strong emphasis on why we should learn this.
MAMA said, “Have you cried for that boy today? I don't mean for yourself and for the family 'cause we lost the money. I mean for him; what he been through and what it done to him.” – showing how her daughter should love her brother.
The Lord Jesus said, Matthew, 5:44b “do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” – showing how we should love one another.
MAMA said, “Child, when do you think is the time to love somebody the most; when they done good and made things easy for everybody? Well then, you ain't through learning- because that ain't the time at all. It's when he's at his lowest and can't believe in himself 'cause the world done whipped him so.” – making her daughter think on why she should love her brother at that time.
The Lord Jesus taught in Matthew 5 :46-47 “For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more [than others]? do not even the publicans so?” – making us think why we should love one another.
MAMA said, “When you start measuring somebody, measure him right child, measure him right. Make sure you done taken into account what hills and valleys he come through before he got to wherever he is."- saying that her daughter should not judge her brother for what he is going through.
The Lord Jesus also said in Luke 6:36-37, which is a parallel verse to what we just read in Matthew (parallel meaning it is Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mountain), “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:” – saying we should not judge one another for our failures.
This is very significant to the story, because it gives authority to what MAMA is telling her daughter. But, it is also important because it tells something about the author. This shows that Lorraine Hansberry may have been a Christian who was trying to pass a biblical message to her audience, or she had a good knowledge of the Bible and she wanted to portrait MAMA’s character as a good Christian. Taking this in consideration, and looking at the whole story, we can pull out other times where MAMA have acted as a good Christian.
We also see another hidden Christian message on Walter's final response to the rep. of the ‘Welcoming Committee’. Walter says. “We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes- but we will try to be good neighbors. That’s all we got to say.” Is this how a Christian should behave? Is that another biblical message behind this scene? I say yes, I believe that all these hidden mesages conclude to the point that the author had the intention to get the audience to think on their actions and influence them to consider biblical principles on how they should behave.
We also see another hidden Christian message on Walter's final response to the rep. of the ‘Welcoming Committee’. Walter says. “We don’t want to make no trouble for nobody or fight no causes- but we will try to be good neighbors. That’s all we got to say.” Is this how a Christian should behave? Is that another biblical message behind this scene? I say yes, I believe that all these hidden mesages conclude to the point that the author had the intention to get the audience to think on their actions and influence them to consider biblical principles on how they should behave.
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