in so many words

It has been less than three months since Christian music pioneer Larry Norman passed away, and he has already found himself (posthumously) at the center of a controversy. An Australian woman named Jennifer McCallum has accused Larry of being the father of her now teen-aged son, Daniel. Jennifer has posted a long message to several Christian music email groups, including the Larry Norman Yahoo group, and has even published a blog explaining her story - how she met Larry, when she became pregnant, how she tried to get support from Larry, how Larry dealt with this issue and how she tried to make contact with Larry’s family after he died. Larry’s family has rejected Jennifer’s claim and Larry’s brother Charles has written a public response (you can read both of their messages here). At this point, the family is not supporting a DNA test, which would either verify Jennifer’s claim or prove that Larry is not Daniel’s father. I understand that this is difficult for the family - still grieving and missing Larry and then hearing this unsettling news. And being that Larry was a public figure, how should they respond? If they acknowledge that Daniel may be Larry’s son and submit to a DNA test, would they set a precedent for others with unscrupulous intentions to barrage the family with false claims? Do they add to their suffering by dealing with an accusation that may not be true? But what if it is true… what about Daniel? If his story is true, he’s a young man who didn’t have the chance to really know his father (as if that wasn’t bad enough) and is now being rejected by his deceased father’s family. If Daniel’s story is true, how much more suffering will Daniel experience because of the Norman Family’s refusal to resolve this?

Hard questions. I know some would say that it’s easy for me to ask them because I’m not the one wrestling with them. This is true, but in the end I would think that the family would want to know, with certainty, whether or not Jennifer’s claim is true. If I was suddenly faced with the possibility of a nephew/grandson I had never known, I would want to be certain - I would want to know the truth. Because if Daniel is Larry’s son, he deserves a place in the Norman Family and an opportunity to resolve his feelings about a dad he never really knew. And if Jennifer’s claim is proven to be untrue, it will free the Norman Family, and although Daniel would be left to struggle with finding the real story of his father, he would at least be freed from struggling with the illusion of having Larry as a father. The truth really does set us free - and the truth is just what Daniel and the Norman Family need.

… now she’s sitting with a baby in her arms…