We are all shaped by our childhood experiences. They give us the foundation structure of how we experience the world, ourselves and others.

In a biography published by Biola University, "Mary Elizabeth speaks of her father, a quiet and non-judgmental man, as a kindred spirit whose way of parenting strongly shaped her way of relating to others throughout her life. She tells this story as illustrative of their relationship: While they were not a poor family, they did not have much money for extra things. Even so, James took Mary Elizabeth to the store to pick out a record to give her mother for a Mother's Day gift. He trusted Mary Elizabeth to carry the record to the car, yet as she walked, bag bouncing off of her knee, the record shattered. She anticipated punishment, but her father recommended that they go back to the store to purchase a replacement. His attitude was, "I can understand how that happened. What can we do differently next time?"

"Having the consistent experience of being trusted, understood, and given the benefit of the doubt by her father set a foundation upon which Mary Elizabeth has been able to extend to others the same appreciative attention.

For more about this educator and process theologian, visit https://www.biola.edu/talbot/ce20/database/mary-elizabeth-moore.