Ever wonder
how the sermons of Charles Albert Tindley may have sounded? You don’t have to
speculate too much what he might have said to comfort and inspire the listeners
in the Philadelphia church where he spoke one Sunday in the first decade of the
1900s. “We’ll Understand It Better By and By” (also known as “When the Morning
Comes”), he advised and urged his hearers. To exercise patience in the face of
adversity was no small concession for many who heard him at the time.
Nevertheless, he well knew of what he spoke, because he’d been there himself,
struggling especially in his early life against slavery and its effects. And
though he’d come a long way, Charles wasn’t content when he could see that the
surrounding culture still wore heavily upon people. And so, he recommended an alternative
perspective, one that he trusted would transport them all to another plane.
Charles
Tindley was both a preacher and musical poet-composer, a multi-tasker who
eventually crafted several dozen songs, many of which were also thematically
linked to his sermon topics. By the time he was 53 years old in 1904, he’d experienced
plenty to provide sermon topics and musical words that would become hallmarks
of his life. Perhaps it was the circumstances of someone in the Philadelphia church
that spawned his words about endurance in “We’ll Understand…”, but he also reportedly
recalled one Sunday morning the bible episodes in which Jesus’ closest comrades,
the 12 Apostles, likewise needed patience. ‘Why can’t you make haste to set up
your kingdom, and save us?’, you can imagine Tindley may have said, in
paraphrasing the Apostles who tried to coax Jesus. Did Tindley think that a
song might make his message resonate just a bit more? Every one of his four poetic
verses begins with a recitation of difficult circumstances, but ends with the
song’s title words. Don’t forget to endure until the end, so that you’ll
understand it better as you look in the review mirror, he says. Charles didn’t
try to deny there were ‘howling tempests’ (v.1), ‘barren lands’ (v.2), ‘dark
trials’ (v.3), and ‘hidden snares’ (v.4) along the path, for he’d seen his
share of those. Poverty-stricken, lacking a formal early education, and
orphaned as a youngster – these were all realities of Charles’ early life. Yet,
they failed to stop this young man from learning on his own, working, sometimes
without pay, and eventually becoming a janitor at the church where he’d later become
a minister. Many years lay between his beginning and where he found himself by
1904 when he spoke the words about ‘understanding’ and the ‘by and by’.
Charles’
1904 sermon-song was something he must have replayed many times over in the nearly
three decades that followed until his death in 1933. Even so, he wasn’t one to
casually stand by and watch the suffering of people, or to stay quiet when he thought
injustice needed an opponent. He persuaded business people and elected officials
in the Philadelphia area to help those in need of jobs, housing, and food. He
also opposed social events that perpetuated racial bigotry, even at the risk of
physical harm to himself. For Tindley, perhaps looking backward in the ‘by and
by’ was best contemplated remembering the compassion he could show others. Tindley
was evidently taking a page from some other historical figure’s playbook – urging
others to look heavenward with hope and patience, while also taking action to
help others aching because of social prejudice. Any idea who that other guy
was?
See more
information on the song story in this source: The Complete Book of
Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J.
Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.
Also see this link, showing all the song’s words: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/w/e/l/u/welunder.htm
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