One afternoon at Church, Ruth McBride was weeping after hearing her favorite songs, like, "We've Come This Far by Faith," or, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." James McBride asks his mother why does she cry in Church, and she responded and said God makes her happy. He thinks about this a bit more and assumes that maybe God likes black people better, hence having his mother cry at Church. He then asks whether God was black or white. She responded by saying that he is not black or white, but a spirit, leading into the main metaphor of the story, saying, "God is the color of water. Water doesn't have a color." The metaphor displays how God has no color, no race to him, and would accept anyone, no matter what their race is. This representative of how Ruth and James McBride were accepted as Christians solely, therefore avoiding any difficulties having to do with race, at least when speaking about it with religion. .
The author then looks back upon the time in his life when her mother decided to drive Hunter Jordan's old car. However, she didn't know how to drive, and was generally afraid to get behind the wheel. On that day, she drove crazily on the road, and declared to never drive again. James McBride also reflected on his life up to a teenager, who knew that bad things would occur in the not too distant future if he didn't change his ways and behavior. Gradually, James McBride began to give serious consideration to the warnings of his sister Jack and Chicken Man. So he decided, "Like my own mother did in times of stress, I turned to God." This helped him to cope with all these current problems in his life. He also reflected on his past obsession with drugs, especially marijuana, referring to it as his friend, and it kept him from running from the truth. But the truth was that his mother was falling apart emotionally from the death of her second husband.