In Part 5 of the Lessons My Mama Taught Me series, I reflect on a powerful truth my mother lived by: being hateful is incompatible with being whole.

The episode opens with a spoken-word poem about the distances we travel to understand one another and how the differences we see on the surface often dissolve when we look more closely. I then share the story of my mother, a white woman raised in a small, religious town, who chose love over prejudice when she married a Black man in the late 1950s and refused to hide her family to satisfy social expectations.

Looking back at her courage feels especially timely given the escalation of racial tensions and violence in the U.S. I also reflect on the words of Frederick Douglass (1845) about the long history of hateful beliefs that are justified under the veil of “Christianity.”

In this episode, we explore:

• how hate limits our ability to live fully,
• how our true values are revealed through the choices we make, and
• how acceptance and compassion create the foundation for a more meaningful life.

At its heart, this episode asks a simple but challenging question: What kind of life can we build if we refuse to let hate take root in our hearts?

Music: All music for my podcast is sourced and licensed for use via Soundstripe.

Songs in this episode: The Games We Play by Nu Alkemi$t; Some Kind of Wonderful by Nu Alkemi$t; Con Sazón by In This World

Poem: Vellumed Eyes

Related Episodes:

Giving Without Expectation – Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 4) - Episode #67

Take Notice of Little, Beautiful Things — Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 3) - Episode #66

Recognize the Good in Others — Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 2) – Episode #65

Let People Know You Love Them — Lessons My Mama Taught Me (Part 1) - Episode 64

Journal Prompts:

1. Write about a prejudice that you overcame. What helped you understand it and let it go?

2. How are you accepting people as they are, and how do those feelings of acceptance impact your life in a positive way?

3. How do you define Christian values? Write about the role of accepting others in that definition.

Please subscribe & leave a review if today’s episode made you think about how love and acceptance make you whole. 💜💛

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Prefer to read this episode? Read the complete episode in blog format here: https://www.lettheverseflow.com

Let the Verse Flow is part of Jill Hodge’s voice actor and audiobook narration work. Learn more at jillhodgevo.com.

I’m taking an extended hiatus from the show to pursue my audiobook narration and voiceover work. Thank you for joining me here on the podcast for the last three years. You can stay in touch (and I really hope you do) and follow my narration work and creative projects by signing up for my monthly note, Between the Lines, at jillhodgevo.com. Now and always, may you stay on the bright side of