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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Mail Tribune 100, Feb. 9, 1916 ... Oregon and Alaska lift suspension of troubled insurance carrier Moda ... Oregon refuge occupier releases videos mocking FBI ... Mail Tribune 100, Feb. 9, 1916 ... Oregon and Alaska lift suspension of troubled insurance carrier Moda ... Oregon refuge occupier releases videos mocking FBI ... Suzette Martinez Standring: The maternal staircase Comment By Suzette Martinez Standring More Content Now MailTribune.com By Suzette Martinez Standring More Content Now Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:56 PM By Suzette Martinez Standring More Content Now Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:56 PM » Social News My grandmother, mother, me and my daughter are steps in a maternal staircase. Like many women, I wonder at the DNA winding through the generations that hold traits of adventure and endurance as well as flaws of pride and impulsiveness, and who-knows-what-else that is yet to surface with life. On our staircase, faith is the banister, occasionally creaky but heavily leaned on. My grandmother Rosario, a village beauty in the Philippines, had nine children by a Spanish Catholic priest who never left the priesthood to marry her. No other man was ever reported in her life, even after he was sent to a faraway diocese. “Not choosing her above God” or “not stealing him away from God” were reasons shared by an elderly cousin as to why the couple never married. Folks, I shouldn’t even be sitting here. The youngest of Rosario’s nine children was my mother, Josefa, who was schooled largely in a convent in the Philippines by Belgium nuns. World War II destroyed her future promise of options and she felt lucky to marry my dad and come to the U.S. at the age of 30. Her extraordinary kindness was powered by faith but she was plagued by religious guilt. She thought it was a sin to even get mad. I witnessed her anguish of second-guessing the state of her soul, which led to her nervous breakdown. That imprinted me with the belief that religion was bad for your health. In my teens, I abandoned religion. Instead I hailed from the school of I-Create-My-Own-Reality. Ever a seeker, I embraced many spiritual disciplines. I raised my daughter to be open-minded and questioning, and she is. So imagine my shock when Star came to Christianity as an adult. After all, I had my prejudices. Yet for her, coming to faith was not a ticket on the guilt trip. Rather, hers was a liberation from fear, ego, and pretenses. Her peace and confidence made me curious. Study instead of sound bites made me realize what I didn’t know could fill a book (The Bible). God’s celebration of individuality led to my own full immersion baptism eleven years ago. My granddaughters believe in a loving, protective God. Yet they know God is not a lucky talisman nor does he play favorites. Always prayers are answered, and sometimes the answer is no. Their stories are yet to be written. On our maternal staircase, a banister winds through doubt, betrayal, presumptions, rescue, hope, and love, and not always in that order. Yet God remains a constant, generational thread, frayed but resilient. It must be in our DNA. Email Suzette Standring at [email protected] or visit www.readsuzette.com . The Art of Opinion Writing, won a First Place in the 2015 New England Book Festival. She is syndicated with GateHouse Media. By Suzette Martinez Standring More Content Now MailTribune.com By Suzette Martinez Standring More Content Now Posted May. 5, 2015 at 12:56 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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