Every Time I Feel the Spirit – Anonymous

 

Their lives mingled with His, probably including in their moments of distress when a ray of hope shown through the darkness. Somewhere in slavery’s dominion, in pre-Civil War North America, a group of African-American slaves sang that “Every Time I Feel the Spirit”, they could sense Him being there to reassure them. They called out to one another some reminders of His working, perhaps as one of them thumbed through a tattered bible, maybe one of the few possessions a group of slaves might have had, even if it had to be kept in secret. Many of these 19^th Century enslaved believers, in fact, might have been illiterate.  But they were able to hear the Spirit, and to coax faith among each other. This must have been the message a group of them wanted to convey to a president who came to meet them, in the wake of their gaining freedom, and even as the national conflict still raged on. (See the picture here of perhaps Freedman’s Village, in Arlington, Virginia, where a group of former slaves sang about this Spirit’s working to President and Mrs. Lincoln.)

 

Exactly which slave community was the source of “Every Time I Feel the Spirit” is not really known, though we might infer one possibility from the story of the song’s use in a performance for Abraham and Mary Lincoln.  An escaped slave from Maryland, known as Aunt Mary Dines, reportedly was at this event and even witnessed the President’s emotional reaction to the singing. So, had the song emanated from Maryland, and perhaps was further spread in this camp outside of Washington? Whatever the case, Lincoln’s purported reaction suggests he could identify with their distress, something that various authors have indicated Lincoln felt acutely at times in the White House. Lincoln’s many speeches, particularly during the war’s latter stages, contained his own thoughts about God’s purposes and even punishments for the nation, indicating he sought out God’s Spirit for his inner struggle. How did these people respond, be they negro farmhands under the lash, or a president caught in the death struggle to guide a torn nation back into harmony? Prayer. And, not just once, but every time they felt Him moving. And, then they told each other a few things about the one to whom they looked for answers. One can imagine that the poetic verses with these reminders of Him were mixed and matched in various combinations over the years, judging from what is shown in various sources. Some of these images include God on Mount Sinai, with fire and smoke; God providing a saving path through the Red Sea; God’s salvation through the Jordan River; Jesus being our security when Satan is tempting; and God providing heaven as the believer’s destiny. The common theme throughout is that He’s the One to watch. Cling to Him.

 

How many songs have emerged inside the crucible of struggle? Discovering this answer might be like trying to find the mathematical solution for the value of Pi to the last digit. It’s infinite, and in fact ongoing. Our struggle continues, more than 160 years after America’s conflict-of-all-conflicts ended. And, from what the negro slaves sang for Abraham and Mary, they recognized that many millennia before their own era, others struggled, too. Oh no, the struggle is inestimable and never-ending! If you and I were sentenced to live as mortals forever, on this broken planet, a wail like that would be reasonable. But, those who first mouthed the words of today’s song had surmised something else. He’s there, listening to prayer. And, He’s already put the plan in place for you and me to find peace. In fact, the victory has already been won in the last conflict. If enslaved, illiterate slaves could figure this out, what is stopping you from discovering the same thing today?  

 

See the following site for a brief account of the song’s reputed first performance: https://www.hymnologyarchive.com/every-time-i-feel-the-spirit

 

See here for brief information on the song’s background and its verses: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Every_Time_I_Feel_the_Spirit_(song)

 

See here for the song’s verses also: https://hymnary.org/text/upon_the_mountain_when_my_lord_spoke

Church in the Wildwood -- William S. Pitts

 

He was just enjoying the scenery. That’s one way to illustrate the episode in which William Savage Pitts interacted with nature to imagine how a building not yet constructed could help nurture a community that was looking about them in two different directions -- horizontally and vertically. This was the “Church in the Wildwood” (also known as “The Little Brown Church in the Vale” [See the map-picture of Chickasaw County, Iowa, and the town of Nashua marked with a red circle in the southwest corner of the county.]). When William visited the area in 1857, the construction site was in the small community of Bradford, which has since declined in size, with no post office there since 1899. But the little church that was erected a few years later has remained. What was it that Pitts saw, besides the wooded valley that surrounded him that day?       

 

A picture of the church from 2011 shows a sign on it that says the building was constructed in the period 1860-64. That, in a nutshell, perhaps captures what the 27-year-old William Pitts was trying to describe in his original poem. Somehow, he could hope that this little church, across many years, would help focus attention and act like glue for residents of that area – that they would appreciate their Creator as they looked around themselves and took stock of their lives. Could Pitts have known that a tiny, somewhat dingy-looking structure that he nevertheless admired in the mid-1800s would still be around 150 years later? After all, who paints a building brown?! Perhaps William thought the color that the members of that church community chose actually helped emphasize the church’s similarity with its setting. Pitts evidently thought this nature spot underscored the peace and beauty of His creation, a theme that he visits throughout his five stanzas. This spurred his appreciation for worship in such a spot, where people would respond to a ‘clear ringing bell’ on the ‘Sabbath’ (v.2). It creates an image of a God who gently invites and coaxes the faithful to join Him in spirit amidst His creation. Pitts could also foresee generations of the church’s members drawing descendants to that spot (vv.3 and 4), with reminders that the departed ‘lie’, sleep’, and are ‘close by the side of that loved one’, but are merely resting in a ‘tomb’ in that place. Evidently, like many rural churches, Pitts expected that a cemetery, to silently speak to people as they arrived and departed from the site, would occupy a portion of the church’s grounds. The church was also something like a stepping stone, as Pitts in his concluding thoughts envisaged a journey beginning there and proceeding toward ‘mansions of light’ (v.5). Pitts’ own story of the song indicates it was sung for the first time some seven years later in this crude structure during its dedication. That both the song and the church building have endured says something…how many other little, rural churches identify with that little brown one in the vale?      

 

Pitts’ verses and refrain today still call churchgoers at the little brown church in the wildwood to nurture their faith, to look for and appreciate God in a church community, as it has done for many generations. Pitts’ own account of seeing for the first time the vale spot planned for the church indicates he was struck by the natural beauty he beheld there. As others have noted, nature has a unique ability to inspire reverence for and celebration of His dominion. So, the people of the little brown church did not attempt to erect a grand edifice, for that would have distracted from Him. Perhaps all they wanted was a basic roof, floor, and some walls. He’d already provided everything else. Besides, they probably suspected there was already a grand place awaiting them elsewhere. Where do you suppose that is?

 

See here for the song’s verses and the story of the song: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/l/i/t/t/l/littlebc.htm

 

See author’s brief biography here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/p/i/t/t/pitts_ws.htm

 

See here for background on the town of Nashua, Iowa and a picture of the little brown church: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashua,_Iowa

 

Information on the unincorporated site of the church named Bradford: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford,_Chickasaw_County,_Iowa

Lord, I Want to Be a Christian -- Samuel Davies?

 

The origin and author’s name have been a little muddled, but the sentiment is still clear.  The story implies that the author heard a personal appeal from a seeker, someone who really was moved by this speaker and needed hope to transport his outlook to a higher plane. Samuel Davies wanted to help, and so he (or perhaps any of a number of other potential authors) evidently coaxed the seeker and his friends to sing “Lord, I Want to Be a Christian”, an assertion that carried with it some other objectives. What would you do if you were an 18^th Century slave in Virginia (see its state seal here)? That was the context, the crucible – or, one might also describe it as a predicament – which formed the words that expressed a simple but powerful yearning of the people at that time.

 

‘Thus always to tyrants’ -- that is how the Virginia seal’s Latin words ‘sic semper tyrannis’ translate. They would not be on this state flag until years later, but these words and the illustration (showing a goddess of Virtue named Virtus, with her foot holding down a dethroned tyrant) were 18^th Century concerns, something that was familiar to the Presbyterian minister Samuel Davies and the negro slaves to whom he spoke. (Other sources have variously indicated that a William Davies or William Davis, or perhaps some of the negro slaves, actually wrote ‘Lord, I Want to Be a Christian’; the evidence for Samuel Davies seems most credible to this blogger.) It’s likely that Davies and his hearers actually perceived different tyrants, given their dissimilar roles in that era, though they each seemed to share a belief in a common deliverer. To Davies, a sense that the Anglican church, in the way that it tried to assert authority over Englishmen and control how they worshipped, was an oppressor. America represented freedom for Davies and other religious and civil dissenters in Virginia. For the slaves, there was no question about who their tyrant was in mid-18^th Century Virginia. But, as one or more of them approached their minister, Samuel Davies, their objectives apparently blended. Both thought that being like Christ Jesus was the answer. The oppression of the slaves was very palpable, and could not have escaped Davies’ attention. His resolution for this beleaguered people was that they not just give themselves to Christ, but also that they be more like Him…’more loving’ (v.2) and ‘more holy’ (v.3). Make this a heart thing, Davies urged. Deal with the tyrant by dethroning him, at least internally. It must have helped the slaves to make common bond with a God who had suffered and died Himself at the hands of Roman cruelty eighteen centuries earlier.      

 

Samuel Davies, by himself, could not have altered his culture to fundamentally improve the lot of American slaves. It was an endemic issue that enslaved the African-born millions who would eventually inhabit the new nation. Even a declaration and a constitution, radical in their vision and implementation, did not grant black people equal status among Caucasians. Only a bloody war, and many generations beyond that war, would be needed to hasten more racial harmony in the land where Davies ministered to slaves. And even so, have all hearts been changed? For even casual cultural observers, a heavy sigh might be the most telling answer as we watch today’s daily news. Davies and his hearers had the right approach. ‘In my heart’ is where I need to aim, to change the circumstances for myself and others. We just have to convince more around us to invite Him into their hearts.   

   

See more information on the song story in these sources: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006; Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990.

 

See here for a very similar story, but attributed to a potential author with a different first name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord,_I_Want_to_Be_a_Christian

 

See here for more information on the potential author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Davies_(clergyman)

 

See for more potential author information: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/d/a/v/i/e/davies_s.htm

 

See here for details of Virginia’s flag: http://legis.state.va.us/1_cap_class/class_media/4_5_pdfs/factpack-1.pdf