I never knew Mara's last name but I can tell you she was Jewish. I spent my early life living as part of the token WASP family in a Jewish/Italian Catholic neighborhood in New York. My childhood best friend was Jewish so I can say the following from experience. Jewish people have a deeper sense of pride about their heritage then any other people group I have met. No other people group even comes close. Mara was no different. While she admittedly did not practice the religion of her people ("a good Jewish girl") she had a strong respect of her ancestry and that it defined her. During my time at Mama's my world view came into focus and part of that experience lead me into a deep study of the bible. I found it interesting that upon my discovery of the biblical character of Mara that the present day Mara was also aware of her. This surprised me very much because for someone who was as religiously abstinent as her she still was able to discover and maintain the knowledge of a very minor character in the bible. The point of the past two sentences is this; her heritage, her name, and its biblical meaning were very much in sync during this time (Ruth 1:20 "...call me Mara because the Almighty has made my life very bitter").

 

Before I go too far into my story about her during our shared time at Mama's I'd like to say that I ran in to her a few years after we left campus and her smile was even more radiant than this picture describes. I think she found her way out of the darkness that entangled her and I hope that she has remained in the light so to speak.

 

Mara was the head cashier at Long's bookstore. She had the unenviable task of coordinating lots of college co-eds in the very high turnover madhouse that was Long's. Though not much older than these co-eds Mara never finished school and I think she resented her subordinates for their "opportunity". Her feelings for her lack of "opportunity" were compounded by the "boys club" that was the management of Long's bookstore. She would come in after work about 3 or 4 times a week and would usually stay till shortly before closing. Some nights she would take a taxi home and others...somebody else would take her home.

 

I wish I could say that "somebody" was always the same somebody but it wasn't. I liked Mara as a person. I spent time talking to her and I really tried to understand her. I think she sensed that but was always frustrated with me because on one hand I showed her that I cared about her and on the other hand my world view was unacceptable to her.  After many years of reflection I think I can begin to understand. She was struggling with her identity. While she had great pride in her ancestry she could not come to grips with her spiritual heritage. While she wanted to believe there was a benevolent spiritual "father" looking out for her. She could not accept that YHWH of her ancestors or His Son heralded by us Christians was her answer. She would search for the alternative that she believed existed but had yet to find. She was acutely aware of her spiritual need and would continually engage in spiritual conversation with me and anyone who would talk about it. But the result was always the same. Without a clear "acceptable" answer she would chose to rage like a storm in an ocean of alcohol and seek safe harbor in the arms of whoever would hold her up at the end of the night and take her to port. To her chagrin the port was never home. For the longest time she felt like she was doomed to this existence and nothing would change. Towards the end of my time at Mama's she applied and got a position at the Ohio State University bookstore. I think she was truly shocked when they said she had the job. Once she got away from the Long's environment she started to see a future for herself. Mama's faded from view as eventually she got another job far from campus. I hope she never gave up looking for that father. I hope she found "my" father and discovered He is hers as well. The cruelest trick this world plays on you is to make you forget that you are a needy person (and everyone is). Our pride makes us seek comfort in any way till we forget our needful state and the world is happy to oblige us.