A Time to Speak

FEBRUARY 4, 2017

Read Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

A Time to Speak

There’s a season for everything and a time for every matter under the heavens . . . a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking. (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7)

At the entrance of my home, on a table by the front door, sits a hand- some bust of Frederick Douglass. The prominent position is symbolic of the place Douglass holds among those who have made an impact on my thought and life.

I attended Frederick Douglass Junior High School in the Harlem section of the borough of Manhattan, New York, where I was born. From my earliest days, I knew Frederick Douglass as the name of a school before I knew of the person for whom the school was named.

Douglass was a prominent abolitionist who challenged other abolition- ists as well as those who supported slavery. His eloquence as an orator made him a popular and sought-out speaker. His intellect allowed him to debate other prominent speakers on the subjects of slavery, equality, and women’s rights. President Abraham Lincoln would confer with him and valued his opinion and perspective. Douglass knew the power of words and used them with full effect.

Douglass spoke truth to power, ignorance, arrogance, and prejudice. He was persuasive because he was thoughtful, and he understood that ideas are best challenged and changed with other ideas—ideas backed by passion and whose goal is to persuade is a powerful force.

Even now we can learn from Douglass, whether in a classroom discus- sion, a discourse around the dinner table, or a debate at the church confer- ence. Words are about ideas. Ideas are changed with other ideas. Douglass, through the force of his commitment and the logic of his argument, en- gaged those who disagreed strongly with his positions. Some were won over; others were not. But none were confused about his position. He spoke, and he spoke eloquently, forcefully, and convincingly.
Douglass understood that the America in which he lived was at a his- torical crossroads, and at such a time he could not be silent. It was a time to speak. His speaking made a difference.

Prayer: Dear God, teach us to know when to remain silent and when to speak, and may our words always be pleasing to you. Amen.

A Quiet Strength

FEBRUARY 3, 2017

A Quiet Strength

Read Psalm 118:1-14.

I was pushed so hard I nearly died, but the Lord helped me. The Lord was my strength and protection; he was my saving help! (Psalm 118:13-14)

my wife and I were privileged to attend the unveiling of the Rosa Parks postage stamp in 2013. We sat in the packed auditorium of the King Center in Atlanta and listened to speaker after speaker

extol the virtues and courage of this seamstress from Montgomery, Alabama. She seemed an unlikely person to spark a new chapter in the 1950s civil rights movement.

In Montgomery, as was custom and law in many southern cities in the 1950s, all public transportation was segregated. White passengers sat from the front to the rear, black passengers from the rear to the front. As the front section became full, black passengers would have to give their seats to white passengers.

It was the custom. It was the law. But one day it all changed.

The quiet, reserved, church-going Rosa Parks, returning from a long day’s work and seated in the black section of the bus, was asked by the driver to stand so that a white male passenger could be seated. She refused. She made no speech; she simply quietly remained seated. Threatened by the bus driver with arrest, she continued to sit and was eventually jailed for disobey- ing the law.

What courage it must have taken in the 1950s South to defy white au- thority, custom, and law! Where did Mrs. Parks gain the strength and cour- age to remain seated, digni ed, and calm? Being handcuffed, put in a police car, and taken to the police station was a life-threatening ordeal for a black person during that era.

In a society that seems to prefer volume—suggesting the louder the mu- sic, speech, or announcement, the more effective—quietness seems under- valued. Sometimes it is even equated with weakness. Rosa Parks was a woman of quiet strength whose faith was in the Lord. That day, such a quiet strength altered the societal practice of a city and would become a symbol that galva- nized a nation.

In the face of con ict, controversy, and debate, it is not always the loud- est or most boisterous argument that is the most effective. There is some- thing disarming about quiet strength.

Prayer: Dear God, even in quietness, you are our strength and salvation. Amen. 

There’s a Leak in This Old Building

FEBRUARY 2, 2017

There’s a Leak in This Old Building

My Father’s house has room to spare. 

If that weren’t the case, would I have told you that I’m going to prepare a place for you? (John 14: 2)

As the Negro slave grew old and tired of his painful existence and his body began to deteriorate, he thought of the words in the verse above. He thought of that wonderful dwelling place that Jesus had prepared for him. He knew that when he took up residence there, he would be through with the troubles of the world. He would be at home living with God, and he probably sang:

There’s a leak in this old building

 And my soul’s got to move 

To a building not made by man’s hands. 

What a wonderful blessing to know that you have a place to go when you die. That new place is a building not made by man, so there will be no more leaks.

One of my friends who was divorced lost her job, her house, and had no money to support her children who were in college. Her children became more and more disrespectful and made little effort to help with the family expenses. Those experiences may have contributed to her failing health. She was hospitalized, and her friends tried to raise money for her health care. When one of her friends told her that she had to fight to get well, she would say “There’s a leak in this old building, and my soul’s got to move.”She moved, and I hope she took up residence in that building not made by man’s hands.

 My granddaughter told me that she hoped that I would live to see her children before I went to live with God. She knew that my building was getting old and probably had some leaks in it, but she also felt confident that when my soul moved, it would be to a building prepared by Jesus. She was careful to explain to me that she did not like to use the word “die,” so she just said, “go to live with God.” What confidence in me that child has! I hope I live up to her expectations.

Is there a leak in your building that cannot be repaired? Are you living in such a way that your soul will be able to move to a building not made by mans’s hands?

Prayer: Lord, I am so grateful that you have prepared a place for me. May I be worthy to dwell in it. Amen.

Kimbrough, Marjorie L. (2016-12-20). African American History Month Daily Devotions 2017 

For Every Mountain

For Every Mountain

Taste and see how good the Lord is! 

The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy! (Psalm 34: 8)

When my husband and I were planning our fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration, I knew there was one song I wanted sung: “For Every Mountain” by Kurt Carr. That song fit the occasion perfectly. The opening words express how much the writer has to be grateful for and how those blessings continue day by day or, in our case, year by year. After a litany of blessings and thanksgiving, the chorus sings praise: 

For every trial you’ve seen me through

For every blessing.

 I am always moved by this song because during our fifty years of marriage, there have been many mountains. If you include the churches my husband has served as pastor and the mountains and trials the members have faced, you might have a sense of what we have experienced together. But God is so good, as we have tasted and seen.

Sometimes couples ask me to participate and offer words of advice during their premarital counseling. I always tell the bride not to expect a fifty-fifty arrangement in which she puts a 50 percent effort into making the marriage a success and her groom also puts in 50 percent. Somehow there never seems to be an equal effort. I advise her to be prepared to give a 90 percent effort and to expect no more than a 10 percent effort from her husband. I let her know that if she gives 90 percent and by chance her husband is prepared to give his 50 percent, they will have 140 percent working toward their success. (And just imagine, if he put in a 90 percent effort, they would have 180 percent working toward their success!) Then, no matter what mountains they experience, together with God they will be able to climb over. 

How can we taste and see that the Lord is good if we never face trials? How can we praise God for bringing us over mountains that were not there? We never know what trial each new day has in store for us, but we know that God is with us and will see us through. That is why we sing praises and shout, “Hallelujah!” 

What do you have to shout about? 

Have you tasted and seen that the Lord is good? 

Prayer: Lord, I am so thankful for the many blessings you have granted me and for the gift of a long marriage. Help others to be blessed in the same way. Amen.

Kimbrough, Marjorie L. (2016-12-20). African American History Month Daily Devotions 2017