In the World of Dick and Jane

I grew up in the world of Dick and Jane—also Baby Sally, Mother, Father, Spot the dog, and Puff the cat. For those of you who are “Boomers” or somewhat older, you probably know who I mean. For those who are younger, let me explain: the above-named are characters in a popular series of basic reading texts for young school children from the 1930s to the 1970s in the United States. The books relied on sight reading (or "whole word reading") and repetition, using phrases like, "Oh, see. Oh, see Jane. Funny, funny Jane." The books enjoyed a revival when they were reprinted in 2003; they are not now considered suitable for teaching children to read, but over 2.5 million copies were sold to nostalgic people like me. Related merchandise, such as shirts and magnets, were also produced and gained wide popularity, particularly among people who had never been exposed to the original series but were familiar with catch phrases such as “See Spot run!"

In the world of Dick and Jane, there was no unemployment, no arguments between one’s parents, no racial tension (characters from other races and cultures were not introduced until 1965), no sick babies or dying pets, no one who stole wagons or tricycles. I loved Dick and Jane and their world! And when I say that I grew up in that world, I am quite serious. My father farmed and so it was obvious to me that he had steady work. (I didn’t know it was making hardly any money.) My mother was, of course, a stay-at-home mom because that’s what mothers did. My parents did not argue—that I could ever tell—mostly because that’s not what mothers did. Until I entered high school, I did not know a single person of another race. (I was in an all-white community.) We had measles and scarlet fever, but nobody was deathly sick. When the pets died, well, they weren’t really part of the family anyway; they just happened to live where we lived. And there was no one around to steal our stuff, as if they would even want it. So I was not really very well-prepared for the reality of life in any other kind of world than the world of Dick and Jane where the worst hurts were usually nothing more than scraped knees and bloody noses.

We no longer live in the world of our earliest childhood experiences—whether it was like Dick and Jane’s and mine, or a milieu totally different. Whatever the setting of our growing up, all of us have undoubtedly faced hardships, disappointments, and certainly surprises! It's just not the way we pictured it!" We may need to be reminded that the world of our early spiritual formation, the world when we went to our first real job, and the world of our honeymoon marriage no longer exists. That world has changed, and so have we. “When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things.” (I Corinthians 13:11) We are better and wiser and stronger now.

The world we live in today is complicated, and sometimes frightening. Cutthroat competition, natural disasters, crime, dreadful diseases, war and terrorism exist here. But we will survive and thrive in this world as well. “I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38, 40)

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com