Were You There?: Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals

by Luke A. Powery

Valuable not only for their sublime musical expression, the African American spirituals provide profound insights into the human condition and Christian life. Many spirituals focus on the climax of the Christian drama, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the ways in which those events bring about the liberation of God's people.


In these devotions for the season of Lent, Luke A. Powery leads the reader through the spirituals as they confront the mystery of Christ's atoning death and victory over the grave. Each selection includes the lyrics of the spiritual, a reflection by the author on the spiritual's meaning, a Scripture verse related to that meaning, and a brief prayer.

Genres: Religion, Christianity, Devotional

144 pages, Paperback

Published January 8, 2019

Reviews

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. I appreciated the interpretations and explanations of the Spirituals by the author. He also provides Scripture readings and a prayer for each day relevant to Lent. Something I did as I read each day's devotional was to find videos on the internet of the Spirituals being sung. While most were easy to find, there were one or two that were elusive. I noticed that many of the arrangements vary from the lyrics Mr. Powery cites. Of course, music is often cut or rearranged to suit someone's preference or time frame. It was still nice to at least have a sense of the Spirituals cited. I was surprised that I recognized a lot of the songs, but also ashamed that I did not realize that they originated in the midst of slavery and were considered to be Spirituals. I believe the Black slaves must have had a strong faith in God and strong character to create and sing such songs while enslaved. While I am truly sorry for the suffering they endured, I am grateful that these Spirituals have not been lost to us. And I am grateful for Luke a. Powery's book. I have also purchased his book about reflections on Spirituals for Advent and I look forward to reading it then.

[Rosemary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great Lenten devotional based on African-American spirituals, many of which were new to me. I wish there were a companion audio file or playlist, and hope that perhaps that's something in development. The readings are short, which makes it much more likely for people like me to read and pray every day. Thank you, Dr. Powery.

[Terrance Lively · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book with wonderful reflections on scripture and spirituals. Well worth delving deeply into the power of music in resisting oppression. I only wished it included music files to really reinforce the message

[Blanche · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most beautiful Lenten reads I have ever done. Connecting to the Spirituals of years past, with what is happening today was beautifully sad yet hopeful in light of this Holy Season.

[Karen Babri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

[Judi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect complement to Lent of Liberation, with songs of faith that helped me to understand the depth of pain from which enslaved people lived.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very timely read for the Lenten season. The daily chapters were just long enough to take dedication to focus but not too long that they were arduous or excessive for a daily study. I learned a lot about songs I knew and thought about what I knew about slavery and the systemic enslavement and oppression of enslaved people in a different way. I would recommend this to anyone looking for something a little different than your average Lenten study.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A set of Lenten devotionals based on spirituals, this book also includes prayers, scriptures, and the texts of a number of old slave spirituals. If you are familiar with these spirituals, this will be a terrific book of devotionals. However, many of the spirituals are probably not known by many modern readers, and some of the devotionals thus fell flat for me. This book might be better as an audio resource. I'm sure the devotionals would have been much more meaningful if I could hear the music before reading the devotionals, prayers, and scripture passages.

[Conrade Yap · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Christian season of Lent is approaching. On Ash Wednesday, the Christian world would be entering into a period of prayer, meditation, and reflections on the 40-days journey of Jesus right up to Holy Week. It is a significant time for believers to ponder about the way of Jesus who obeyed God the Father all the way to the Cross. God in His pleasure and power raised Him up on the third day and gave us hope that in the same way, all believers will also be resurrected together with Christ. Lent is a time of remembering the pain, the sorrow, and the suffering Christ. Author Luke Powery defines Lent as "a season of penitential reflection and repentance on the path toward the hope of Easter." It's a nice way to introduce the theme of this book, which is essentially to understand the nature and underlying contexts of many negro spirituals.

Right from Ash Wednesday, the first spiritual "Didn't my Lord deliver Daniel?" gives us a clear path of where the author is going. In a powerful reflection about the need for deliverance, Powery deals honesty with the issues of pain and suffering. He points out the hope that one day, we will all be delivered. The spiritual "Many Thousand Gone" gives us a troubling insight into actual slavery situations. The spiritual "Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep, Don't You Mourn" is a way for negro slaves to connect their plight with the story of Christ's suffering. "Kum Ba yah" is a hymn of personal need and plea for God to come. However, not all spirituals are sad and somber. The song "Do Lord, do Lord, Lord, remember me" is an upbeat prayer of asking God to remember us. This is especially poignant in a world full of short memories. Other songs include "Michael Row the Boat Ashore," "My Father, How Long," "Steal Away," "We Shall Overcome," and many others. Of course, the one that bears the same name as this book title is also included. Of particular interest are the songs selected for Holy Week. Powery carefully matches the day with a particular theme that expresses the mood and meaning of the road to Calvary. Maundy Thursday is a short meditation on Calvary. Good Friday challenges us to see Jesus at the Cross. After so many weeks asking God to help us, we are left pondering if we would do the same for Jesus. Silent Saturday looks at the atmosphere of silence surrounding the death of Christ. Just like the way the book of Malachi ends, followed by 400 years of silence, Saturday compresses the world's hopes into silent prayer and anticipation. We all know what happens on the third day, but that would need another book.


This is a unique book of negro spirituals that capture a large essence of what Lent means. Carefully chosen and creatively written, readers are given a mini-worship devotional to help one along the Lent season. Some of the hymns and spirituals are familiar. Others are not so familiar. In fact, readers might be surprised that folk or popular songs they have sang are negro spirituals in the first place! This delightful collection of meditations can also be a collection of spirituals for us to learn and to use in our churches. The scripture passages at the beginning of the daily devotional should be read and meditated upon first. Readers might be tempted to skip these passages and jump straight into the rest of the book. Doing so would distract us from the key themes in the biblical passages. At the end of each day, there is a short prayer that could be used to end the devotional.

I enjoyed this book and recommend this for use through the Lenten season.

Luke Powery is dean of Duke Divinity Chapel and associate professor of homiletics at Duke Divinity School.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of Westminster John Knox Press and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.