Under the Tulip Tree

by Michelle Shocklee

“I don’t like remembering the bad times, but the Lord has a way of using them to get you to where he wants you to go.”

Maybe confidence in oneself had nothing to do with what other folks thought or did. Maybe it was deep down inside you, just waiting to be let loose like a spring of water gushing to the surface.

Wasn’t that what life was about? To know and be known. To offer encouragement to others and share the burdens we all face. No matter the color of one’s skin, weren’t we all supposed to care about each other?

“When President Lincoln met Mrs. Stowe, he credited her as the author of the book that helped start the war.”

I understood that the masters who beat me and sold me weren’t anything like God the Father. They was sinners, just like me. I understood that bad things are gonna happen in this world and that we’ll all walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But I needn’t live in fear anymore. The things I endured in my pitiful life as a slave didn’t mean God isn’t good or that he don’t love us.”

“You ain’t like them,” he repeated. “You wouldn’t treat someone badly because they had white skin. I’ve seen you care for the officers the last two years, doing their laundry, tidying their rooms. Sure, it was your job, but you didn’t have to give so much attention to them as you did.”

“Hatred is a powerful thing. It can turn a person into something they ain’t.

but that’s between her and her Maker. I won’t let hatred steal away the peace I have in my heart. You can’t let it steal yours either.”

“Nothin’ surprises the Lord. He’s got a plan and a purpose for everything. We just have to wait on him.”

I feel now that the time is come when even a woman or a child who can speak a word for freedom and humanity is bound to speak. . . . I hope every woman who can write will not be silent.

What we believe and what we think are not static. Experiences and people leave a mark on us and change us.