Muir, Helen Excerpt, Page 6

From Helen to LMW - 2/26/43 OTHER LESSONS: - Continued After Miss Graydon left us we had another teacher, Miss Edith Blaisdell. She lived in Martinez, but part of the time she boarded with us, returning home weekends, and part of the time riding hack and forth on her saddle pony so she could help her mother evenings at home. I think she took Wanda up to the sixth or seventh - me to the 4th or 5th - grade. When she had to leave us on account of death in her family and the care of an invalid brother, Wanda gave me daily spelling, reading, history, for about a year. Of course English was easy as I knew by heart so many things from the best writers, and I read in all my spare evening time. The memorized lessons recited at Papa\u27s arm chair continued til I was fifteen. I don\u27t remember how old Wanda was when she gave up the lessons from Papa. After that 1 chose selections from the poets myself and learned them...... PRAYERS AND RELIGION: Papa had both Wanda and me learn the Lord\u27s Prayer, but he did not teach us to pray. Our mother did, however, and I am sure Papa approved tho I cannot remember anything in particular said about it. Mama taught us the little children\u27s prayer, Now I lay me down to sleep and I know I then added my own personal requests before saying amen. Whenever Papa was away on one of his trips Mama would come to my bedside after I was settled in bed and whisper, Pray that God watches over dear Papa and brings him safely home to us . I am not sure how Papa felt about a personal God. We never discussed it, but I feel in my own mind his conception of God was as a universl power or force governing the universe. The laws of nature were only another way of saying the laws of God, or something very like that I once heard him tell some writer who had been questioning him. Thishttps://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmr-all/1200/thumbnail.jp