The Higher Power

Mother is the word generally used in The Summer Boy, but the matter of gender at this point is complex. The Higher Power created the world and not until the nth day did man and woman come about. Throughout the story 'Mother' appears as the Higher Power:

 On page 48 we meet Callie, a very motherly type; she feeds everyone; she has a daughter, Elizabeth, who serves her faithfully (in biblical terms no less than Jesus Christ). Elizabeth appears frequently with help in case of need: "Mama told me to [something] provide every need. At the council she appears out of a tree and runs the proceeding.

 Turn now to page 207: Lizzie says something about 'the Mother' eliciting a reply from Drum

 "The Mother?" there follows:

"God, Spirit, Maker, Mover, whatever word you use, it names the one who is all."

"God is a woman?"
 Lizzie smiled at his query, "Sometime She is; sometimes He isn't."

 That's about as good an answer as can be given to the God question.

On page 218 we see a prayer that Drum raised on his own:
"Holy Father and Mother and Lover and Friend. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you."

Who Dat?

Page 170-71 has a section that some of us may find 'mystering': who is this old man and how did he get into the story at this point.  A second or careful reading suggests that he is 'this old owl'.  And who is this woman talking through the door?  Third reading suggests it might be Calley.

Both of these people are 'spirit people', and maybe we're let in here on how this 'Summer Boy' world works.  Finally we see that Beaverdam is a 'spirit place'.

Am I on square one here?

A Personal Recollection

Happening upon 'Making Fire' brought forth a cloud of personal recollections.  I was invited to pastor some churches around Hot Springs, NC.  Big Laurel Creek is close by.  My family moved from LA to Western NC to be near those mountains.  I traversed most of The Appalachian Trail entire length of The Great Smokies.  Reading Summer Boy I'm consistently reminded of those experiences shared to me by my friend Henry Mitchell.

We live now near the water in Florida, but we simply have to go back up there at least every year; in between those trips the next best thing is reading Summer Boy.

Gifts

Someone said life is not made up of blessing and cursing, but of challenges.

Some of us are blessed with frequent if not continuous gifts.

Gifts may be said to come from the 'Holy Spirit' (or Calley).
It often, but not always, comes from Elizabeth with "my mama told me to..."

Pages cited here are those of the hard copy book, not the ebook:

Here are some of the gifts apparent in Summer Boy:

Little Bear's aunt gave him many gifts, treated him like a mother.

An early gift was made by Little Bear when he found a hawk with his beak
was imprisoned between two rocks when he was seeking his prey. a groundhog.
(page 22)

Soon after when he was very hungry he received a gift of food from Elizabeth.
"Mama said you would be needing these")
(By this we realize that Elizabeth was a 'spirit person' like her mother, Calley.)
(page 33-34)

This one can only be seen as a carnal gift--from Lizbet
"Mama wants to know what’s your name, boy.”
Her 'gift' was a poisonous dish followed by a knock on the back of his head.
See page 92ff.
This happens in a dismal place, presumably away from Laurel.

For extravagant gifts we move to Davey's Wood (106).
Davey was the soul of generosity; he gave Bard everything but the cloths on his back.
Bard referred to him as his best friend.
Davey's first gift was bread for the boy he called Pilgrim. He gave  Pilgrim a room of his
life to stay in etc,etc, extravagant hospitality!  He became a father (of the best sort!) to
Bard.

There are still many gifts to name, but these are the only ones who have met my eye so\
far.

Deliverance

In the chapter on Arrival we read how Harry, Ben's father took him to his aunt Mary's to spend the summer 'in the rough' in the Gap, a small community at the foot of large mountains; Ben (Henry?) secretly liked it as any healthy teenager likely would.  (Most stories have a largely autobiographical dimension.)

Mary had two younger children of her own, which made things nice for Ben.  The early pages of 'Summer Boy' display a strong (very common) tension between Father and Son; that theme runs through the story.  (Boys and Girls in general find it necessary some time along their lives to forgive their parent, because in this fallen world there has never been an adequate parent; it occurs only in the Great Beyond.

They sat at the breakfast table; his Baptist parents would have required a "long and ornate blessing, but Mary and family confessed in unison "we receive unworthily" (much like a Scout blessing: 'good bread, good meat, good God, let's eat')

Harry was very strict with Ben, but Mary was permissive; she allowed (and encouraged) him to explore the mountains as he wished. Jokingly she  called him a bear, the first of several names he was to acquire in the book.

Mary had a sort of neighbor who lived a long way up Mount Pinnacle: Ethan Owl was close to Mary and glad to see Ben; in fact as the story progresses he became a prime adviser; he was one of the 'spirit people' we may read about. 

The Choices

There are two definite choices in The Summer Boy:
The first came when Boy chose not to return when his father came for him.  In this he was encouraged by the Owl, who enabled him to see and appreciate the charm of living in the mountain.

When Bard was crossing the river after a delightful evening and night with Calley's hospitality, Roberlee offered him three choices:

He could go to Beaverday with him; he could go back with Charon to his place; he could strike out for himself.

Charon broke in to tell him that "the widest road always takes you most directly to your undoing."
Charon's advice closely resembles "the broad road that leads to Destruction" (Matthew 7:1).

Calley

Calley may appear fairly minor, but she may be considered as second only to the boy.

She first appears when Bard, waiting for the ferry, finds it inoperative for the night, and Charon (Charlie), the ferry keeper invites Robberlee and Bard to his house to eat. When Charon appears at the house a 'huge woman (dark skinned) let out a whoop and folded him into her ample bosom'; that was Calley.

Calley cooked an enormous variety of food for the (supposedly paid) guests.
She conducted a tremendous meal (every good and grateful gift comes from Thee (Calley).

Calley was the primary manifestation of God: female and forever loving-- and powerful.

She might appear wherever she chose. The most dramatic appearance was at the Circle when she came out of the monstrous tree. Calley was obviously a 'spirit person', look at page 157 where Rider "spoke softly ..and said "Calley, please talk to me":
"Callie stepped from the tree. or more precisely flowed from it until she was fully present."

Elizabeth: adopted daughter of Calley appears often with "Mama told me you might need (something or other)".