Not long ago, I read a book called “A Weary Land,” which chronicles the history of slavery in Arkansas. It’s a frank, raw, exquisitely well-researched history of chattel slavery as it existed in the 19th century Natural State. I’m maybe a hair biased in my praise for the book because it was written by one of the very first friends I ever made, way back in Kindergarten. Kelly Jones now teaches Arkansas History at Arkansas Tech University, but I knew her when we were in the band together, cracking wise at ballgames while the basketball team did basketball things.
Anyway, there’s a moment in chapter two of the book that, when I first read it, hit me like a punch in the gut and brought tears to my eyes. It’s about the extent of the “religious experience” slaves were allowed to enjoy by their so-called masters. As you might guess, some owners were more lenient than others; some gave their slaves a wide berth to practice as they pleased, while others kept a tight leash, forbidding everything from outspoken prayers to singing hymns. Despite that, blacks with a faith-unshakeable used persistent minds, creative solutions, and, if necessary, patient waiting to get around the restrictions unjustly imposed on them.
Here’s the quote that moved me:
Imagine having a heart so firmly committed to Christ that you would risk physical life and limb to get yourself into the water, in order to obey the command of Jesus (Mark 16:16). I know some people who won’t walk ten feet down a carpeted aisle, surrounded by smiling, loving people, to be baptized into Christ. On the other hand, here are some people—unwilling slaves—who, as soon as they were set free in this world, rushed to the river, to follow the Bible as they had come to know it, to be made a servant (Philippians 1:1) of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh for a faith so resilient, so determined, and so desperate!
~ Matthew