PASTOR’S CORNER: My soul looks back, and wonders how we got over

Now this message today speaks to all of us in this celebration of “Black History” month. This month is set aside on a national level to recognize the accomplishments and contributions that we (African Americans) have made to our country. This month is a testimony to where we have come from, the things that we have come through and where we have arrived. For the word “history” means “events that form the subject matter of a history.”

We as African Americans are a part of our country’s history, and we have come a long way, a mighty long way. Our lineage is unique; we have rich blood in our veins and it represents where we come from. We do need to look back sometimes, not to go back, but to reflect on where we as a people have come from and to appreciate where we are.

You know, I believe our ancestors who have gone on would be proud of us today. The life that we have built for ourselves, we have come a whole lot further than some of them did and they wanted us to. For example, the homes that we live in and the education that we have achieved that none of them achieve.

To see us with indoor toilets, bathrooms; two and three cars; women not using straightening combs and laying it on the stove eyes or the wood heater to get it hot; cooking from gas and electric stoves instead of the wood stoves that some of them used; closets in every bedroom when some of them had only one closet; a closet full of suits, when they wore the same suit and dress every Sunday, are some examples of how we overcame.

When we turn on the faucet and the water runs freely. Past generations had to go outside to pump water into a bucket to drink from and pump water to take a bath in.

Though it has been a struggle, we have moved on up the kings highway. In the words to the old comedy TV show The Jeffersons, “We’ve moved on up to the east side … to the deluxe apartment in the sky.” It’s not that we are rich, no, but that we are better off than they were here in this life. We have advanced and life is better for us and that’s why we have to pause this month, reflect on what some of them went through, put up with, sacrificed for and shed blood, sweat and tears over, so that we could live a better life.

That’s what black history is all about.

Some of us living today are old enough to remember how things have changed in our lifetime, and I do realize that what I’m saying is foreign to many of our younger people. They don’t have the slightest idea of what I’m talking about.

We’re in a time when everything is instant. When you push a button on the computer you can go around the world. In the age of thermostats and thermometers, they don’t know.

But, that’s what history is. It’s to remember the journey of the past. How did we get here? It’s heart-wrenching to me to think about how some of our ancestors never experienced electricity, never worked an indoor job or never had a driver’s license. With some, all they had was a mule and wagon, never ate inside a restaurant, never drank from a public water fountain, never felt the coolness of an air conditioner or central air unit, or an air-conditioned car. Some never voted and wanted to vote, some never lived in a brick house, and never rode a riding lawn mower to see us where we are in God.

Everybody in here knows that we are not as a people where we want to be, but we ought to thank God that we are not where we used to be!

Because I remember chopping wood, pumping water and having to heist the windows. How did we make it over? How did we arrive where we are? By the grace of God! Our ancestors used to sing “How I go over, how I got over and oh my Lord; you know my soul look back and wonder how I got over.” It says, “I come through trials, I come trials and great tribulation, you know my soul look back and wonder how I got over.” Now I cherish our history; I’m thankful for our history, but I don’t want to go back to look back is one thing but to go back is another thing.

We have tasted the life that we have now, we don’t want to go back to the days of our ancestors. Another song that was often sung is “We come a long way Lord, we’ve come a long way; we bared our burdens in the heat of the day, knowing that the Lord will make a way; we’ve come a long way Lord, we’ve come a long way.”

The Israelites had just come through a time of slavery in the land of Egypt. They had suffered tremendously for 400 years while they were there — death, hard labor, disrespect, and no reward. The hardship and the ill-treatment by the Egyptians had taken its toll on them. They had come a long way. After leaving Egypt God parted the Red Sea and the Egyptians drowned, Miriam with a tambourine and the ladies sang a song of praise (Exodus 15:20-21).

Despite the brokenness, the hard times, we have not arrived, but we made it over!

“My soul looks back in wonder how we got over!”