The Woman Who Has Shaped More Lives Than Just Her Own
An Interview with Martha Saul
By Chase Butler
Growing up on a dairy farm in rural Alabama, my grandma, Martha Saul, had to learn how to develop her own ideals and ideas. She had many inspirations from people around her, but ultimately, it was she who shaped her own life.
My grandma was able to learn her way around the world despite being disadvantaged in a few ways. She brings to light how I have advantages that others don’t have, and she reminds me that I should be grateful for those advantages. She teaches me to love, to give to others, and to accept myself for who I am.
I believe that by reading this interview, you will truly learn a lot about how to love yourself and others, which is one of the most important things you can discover in life. I suggest you take what you learn in this interview to heart, because it will make your life better in more ways than one.
When you were a kid, who influenced you?
My parents the most. I also would say that my sister influenced me a lot. She was three years older, but it was in an adversarial way. She bossed me around.
Who inspired you?
My piano teacher. When I was in my sixth grade year, I was supposed to get this little award. A boy and a girl were chosen from our grade as the most popular, and there was some kind of end of the year celebration that you went to. It turned out to be the same night as my piano recital. My piano teacher said, “That's trivial. The recital is something that you’ve been building on. It's important for you to participate every year. It would be a lot more valuable than to your Queen Bee type thing.” She encouraged me because I could tell that she thought I was a good piano student.
How did these inspirations impact your life? For good or for bad?
I went to church camp every year. The speakers were young men from college who spoke twice a day at services. They talked to us about spiritual values and how scripture is a good basis for your life. They seemed smart and were very likable, and they spoke with a lot of conviction. So that influenced me quite a bit in terms of spiritual values. My piano teacher and my school teachers were also pretty influential.
What values did you develop throughout your childhood and young adulthood that you still keep today?
Honesty is a big one. Managing finances, responsibility. Also, giving to people in need, to churches and charities. Because I lived in a rural area, looking out for one another in our community was vital. We always had somebody extra living at our house, somebody who needed a temporary place to stay.
How have these values influenced what you have done throughout your life and what you do today?
I still think it's important to give. A long time ago, somebody told me that if you're short on money, give some away. It sounds contradictory, but my parents believed in that way, too – that if you give, whether you think you can afford it or not, the money will come back to you.
What was normal for people to do when you were a child but isn’t as common today?
Going to church was one thing. Everybody went to church. Riding a school bus every day. Family reunions. Big, yearly family reunions were common. My dad's family had a reunion every year with all the aunts and uncles and cousins. Another thing that is very different is the energy that goes into politics. Oh my goodness. There was no political squabbling. People didn't talk about politics when they got together. You voted for who you voted for, and it was no big deal. Nobody even bothered to ask. That's very different now.
How does the lack of these normal things create a difference in your life?
I think other things of value have taken their place, so the quality of life is actually, in some ways, better.
What are you most proud of?
Continuing to learn. I'm glad that I got a PhD, but I'm also glad that I continued to learn beyond that. I now have a couple of master’s degrees.
What is one important piece of advice that you received from someone else that you would like to pass on to me?
I didn’t receive this advice; I learned it, maybe the hard way. It’s that the most important thing you do in life is to love other people and your family. I think that that's important for everybody. I think it's much more important than accumulating money and stuff. What can you do that's more important than that? Loving your family and your friends, watching out for other people, being aware of other people's needs; I think that's what makes life rich.
What advice is important for someone like me, who is still growing up and learning about the world, to know?
When you're still growing up, what other people think of you matters a lot to you, and so some people get discouraged along the way. You are not likely to, because you get a lot of positive input, but I think it’s definitely important to know what your values are. Know why they are valuable to you and live that out.
Is there anything else you would like to tell me?
Recognize how talented you are and what good assets you have: your intelligence, your personality, and what's unique about you. Recognize those things and be able to know, deep within yourself, how valuable you are. Once you know that, you can live freely and love freely. You won’t always be concerned about yourself.
I also think you have a lot of advantages that a lot of other kids don't have. You have good parents. I had good parents too, but they had two kids when they first married, and then they had my sister and me much later in life. When we came along, they were kind of done with some things. They weren't very involved, not nearly as involved in my activities and school as your parents are. They felt that I was getting good grades, so they didn’t need to support me much more. We also lived in the country, while all of my friends lived in town. I didn’t have much of a sense of community, unlike you. You have all of those advantages. Recognize that and be thankful for what you have.
