By Ron Holland I often wonder why we see GOD through the eyes, experience and holy books of other people, namely Israel. Do we not have our OWN story to tell about OUR experience with the Divine? Isn’t OUR story worthy to be on the pages of a leather-bound book found in the back of church pews? Aren’t we a delivered people? Aren’t our oral traditions replete with fantastic stories of miracles, phenomena and supernatural intervention from the Divine? Do we not have stories of kings, prophets and people who spoke with thunderous authority of the Almighty?
This is not to besmirch the tradition of the Jews, Muslims, Buddhists or any other faith tradition. For they have a proud and glorious history and experience with God – complete with their OWN oral traditions and holy books. Where’s ours? It’s time for the people of the AFRICAN DIASPORA to tell THEIR story. Isn’t it time for OUR story of faith and experience with God be written on the pages of a leather-bound book found in the back of church pews?
Our story is of struggle, bondage, hardship, conquest; deliverance, freedom and triumph. Our ancestors are a chosen people, peculiar in many ways. We were blessed with rich culture and tradition. Our very existence is profoundly and reverently connected to a loving God.
Our people did not escape the turbulent times of Antiquity or the years that followed. We too endured great trial. We too were besieged with monumental challenges that forged a sturdy spiritual foundation. We too are a holy and chosen people. We are intimately familiar with God’s deliverance, handiwork and comforting embrace – especially when times were hard. Please understand the evidence of God’s hand on humanity is not only found in the pages of canonized scripture, but through a rich and plentiful oral tradition that undergirded the spiritual life of our ancestors.
Our timeless oral traditions were shared on rickety porches, at worn kitchen tables and around crackling fires at secret meeting places. Beyond the earshot of the slave master, our story latched onto history and made its way to us in whispers, hushed tones, moans of our freedom songs; through rhythmic gyrations and dance and by the beat of the drum which carried messages over great distances. Our story is a riveting account of harrowing events that engulfed the lives of a strong and enduring people.
Indeed, our story plunges the soul into the depths of sorrow and pain. But the breadth of our experience ultimately allowed our collective soul to soar in triumph. We are a kidnapped people, whose forced and arduous journey saw our homeland disappear in the horizon. Yet, we survived an immense brutality. We survived rape, murder, beatings; lynching and the separation of family at the whims of the slave master. We survived a subservient existence of bowed heads and gestures of acquiesance; accommodating the imagined superiority of bigots by fixing our gaze to the floor.
Although our humanity and contributions were deemed diminutive, we nevertheless sculpted an enduring presence of strength on the world stage. No, a sea didn’t part in our story. There were no plagues or swarms of locust that paved our way to freedom. There were no angels of death that exacted vengeance on the first born of our captors. There were no mountains aglow with a divine presence. But our people had a restless and rebellious spirit that loosened physical and mental shackles. A condemned and captive existence buckled under the weight of our revolt. Yes, uprising and rebellion parted the sea of captivity. God’s hand lifted our bowed heads, strengthen our weary backs, enabled us to look the bigot in his eyes and turned our loathsome acquiescence to an imposing confidence.
Yes, this is a story of our ancestors. It’s a chronicle of their march toward freedom. No, our story isn’t on the pages of a leather-bound book found in the back of church pews. It isn’t a story canonized or given spiritual context by the Church fathers of the past. It isn’t a story given to hermeneutics, spiritual discernment or scriptural interpretation. It’s a story devoid of red-lettering, prophetic pronouncements and disputed texts. It’s a story of a triumphant people whose arduous journey demonstrates the intervention of an awesome God.
We’re blessed to be descendants of a people that sprang from the cradle of civilization – where vast empires dotted the landscape of a sun drenched continent. From the lands of Wagadu where gold was plentiful to the Malinke Kingdom of Mali to the Songhai Empire, it is the lands of Africa by which humanity rose. It is the bountiful lands of Africa where man gazed into the heavens and discovered a connection to the divine. Religion and spiritual traditions were birthed there. And as the Nile River stretch from Ethiopia to Sudan to Kush (Eygpt) and empties into the Mediterranean Sea, our Ancestors realized that the fragility of life was wholly dependent on the grace of God and the blessings he provides. And while slavery was the fate of millions of our African ancestors; while our homeland was pillaged, plundered, divided and parceled for the economic benefit of other nations, there emerged the children of this great people – born in the Americas – whose hardship, toil and suffering would not only stain a nation, but through their blood, redeem the very soil upon which a United States would stand.
I don’t know why the story of our Ancestors is not written on the pages of a leather-bound book found in the back of church pews. I do know the harrowing events that shape our past and blaze our future is found in the divine plan of a Holy God. SO LET IT BE WRITTEN: God has interceded on our behalf. The story of our ancestors is worthy of canonization. Our story is worthy of morning devotion and meditation. Where are the stories of our prophets, miracles, moral codes and commandments? It is written on hearts and found in our oral traditions. Where are our scrolls, gospels, Old and New Testaments and missing books? They await the call of a divine assignment.
When the doctrinal footnotes, translations, principles of interpretative studies and concordances are written, our spiritual life will no longer be grounded in the story of other people. Instead, other people will ground their faith in our story. I believe our Ancestors are worthy of such admiration and devotion? They’ve presented a compelling case of God’s intercession. God smiled on them. God spoke to them. God’s divine presence guided them. Will the Holy Book of our story ever be written? I don’t know. But our story is worthy to be canonized and written on the pages of a leather-bound book found in the back of your church pew.
Ron Holland is the host of the Public Affairs show, ‘COMMUNITY VOICES’ on WPZS -100.9 & 92.7 FM, Charlotte. He’s also a Producer and Board Operator for WOSF – Old School 105.3 FM. Ron is also a Production Assistant with all three stations. Any thoughts on this week’s commentary send Ron an email: ronholland@radio-one.com
