Reconciliation - Day 6: Beyond the Suffering

Dr. Bob Kellemen (of RPM Ministries) and Karole Edwards have done the church a great service in compiling, organizing, and writing about the spiritual legacy of the African American church in their book: Beyond Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction. They have surveyed original sources of African American church history and assembled it into a text designed, not just to acknowledge and honor those who are rightfully honor by inclusion in this book, but by using the wisdom and testimony of these saints to minister to us today. And they have done so quite successfully. (You can follow Bob as he posts about the contribution this legacy has made to the church, go here >>)

I will not do a full review here, but I include a few examples to whet your appetite; these are testimonies from people who have a lot to teach us about “sufferology” and reconciliation.

For example, concerning Pastor James W.C. Pennington, Bob and Karole write:
“Pennington, reflecting on his conversion, seamlessly expresses his understanding of suffering and of sin. Without minimizing for a moment the evils of slavery, he maximizes for all eternity the horrors of his own enslavement to sin and Satan:”

[In Pennington’s own words] I was a lost sinner and a slave to Satan, and soon I saw that I must make another escape from another tyrant. I did not by any means forget my fellow-bondmen, of whom I had been sorrowing so deeply, and traveling in spirit so earnestly; but I now saw that while man had been injuring me, I had been offending God; and that unless I ceased to offend him, I could not expect to have his sympathy in my wrongs; and moreover, that I could not be instrumental in eliciting his powerful aid in behalf of those for whom I mourned so deeply.” (pp. 106-07)

These saints have much to teach us about how to live out our theology of reconciliation, both vertically and horizontally.

One of the special gifts of the African American church to the body of Christ is their music, specifically the spirituals. Many of them can be traced to the days of slavery and were a source of comfort as they faced those horrors. Chapter Seven is dedicated to the contribution music made to the spiritual life of the “suffering” church.

Ex-slave, Alice Sawyer depicts the Invisible Institution (unsanctioned churches during the times of slavery) as a “seamlessly praying, singing, communal ministry, and sustaining empathy,” she goes on … “We come from four or five miles to pray together to God dat if we don’t live to see it, to please let our chillen live to see a better day and be free, so dat they can give honest and fair service to de Lord and all mankind everywhere.“ (pp. 137-38)

Their music testified of the their suffering and hope. I’ll close today with one such example that many may be familiar with . . .

"Oh, Mother lets go down, lets go down, lets go down, lets go down.
Oh Mother lets go down, down in the valley to pray.
As I went down in the valley to pray,
Studying about the good ole way,
Who shall wear that starry crown?
Good Lord, show me the way.” (p. 138)

(Below is the Alison Krauss version of it, enjoy)




Blessings
3 John 8
Bill H