The Voice at The End of The Line

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The Voice at The End of The Line

by Rhonda Lane

When I was a teenager, there was an AT&T commercial starring the late Bear Bryant, legendary football coach at the University of Alabama. Although I don’t remember the entirety of the ad, its message has clung to my memory for some forty-plus years. The beginnings of the commercial probably espoused the virtues of using AT&T, as is the aim of most commercials. The last line, however, was the bombshell. Coach Bryant, by this time advanced in years, wistfully questioned his audience in a tender voice, “Have you called your Mama today? I sure wish I could call mine.”

I was sitting next to my own mother, whom I saw every day, whom I talked with every day, and whom I had teenage squabbles with almost every day when this popular commercial aired. Immediately, at a rather late hour, my mom jumped up from her seat, went to the phone, and dialed her mother’s number. At my age, I understood her motivation, though I was too young to yet feel it. It remains one of the most memorable moments of my life.

Many people don’t have a mother anymore, including me, and some never had a mother. One 36 // June 2022 thing we all have, if we will accept it, is a father. A Heavenly Father. There are no long-distance charges and no dead cellphone batteries when we need to talk to Him. We just talk, we just groan,

we just cry. (“Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered,” Romans 8:26). He immediately hears it all, interprets it all, and listens to it all. Talk to your Father.” ‘

Have you called your Mama today? I sure wish I could call mine.

About The Author Rhonda Lane is a native of Dalton, Georgia, and is an orphaned, old maid, and only child trying to find her way in the world and lose herself in Jesus Christ.