ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
December 30, 2021
The amazing singer, Mahalia Jackson, said: “Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; [we] cannot live in health without them.” I might just add to her list another word: music. Years ago, my good friend David Merrick put together a mixtape of all kinds of music. One of those tapes included Mahalia Jackson singing, “Walk in Jerusalem.” The lyrics by themselves might give a sad and despairing impression, but with her voice animating those words, there is hope and joy and a desire to join the faithful way up high in Jerusalem. It is more than the style in which she sang it. Every word was dripping with unwavering conviction. Especially in the struggle for civil rights, songs about heaven (whatever metaphor might be used) were songs of hope for those who died in the struggle, but also an ultimate vision of where creation was headed. When you listen to Mahalia Jackson singing that song, it is like a train headed toward that magnificent image of a heavenly Jerusalem and there is nothing going to stop its passengers from making it.
May the faith you inspire within us, Amazing God, be the faith that has us living inspired lives. Amen.
