Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

Singing in the darkness

OpinionRoger Lovette  |  July 22, 2013

By Roger Lovette

If you were to travel to New York and move down Broadway to 43rd Street you would find the Stephen Sondeim Theater. If you bought a ticket and found your seat you would be in for a treat.

The curtain rises on “The Trip to Bountiful,” the story of an old woman who wanted to make just one last trip to her old home place in Bountiful, Texas. Her family thought her mind was about gone and they did not want her to make the trip. But she went anyway.

bountiful-cicelyCicely Tyson plays the 80-year-old woman waiting to catch her bus. With the dignity of all her years she stood and began to sing the old gospel song, “Blessed Assurance.” At that moment someone in the darkness of the audience began to sing. And then the singing moved across the aisles until many of those in the theater were singing along with Ms. Tyson.

The New York Times reported that this was not in the script. They wrote that this phenomenon was peculiar — because most Broadway experiences do not include audience participation. The author of the Times article called the song unheard of — and something out of the ordinary.

But anyone who has been in an evangelical church — white or black — would know this song. Why did the audience sing, night after night: “This is my story, this is my song?” I do not really know, except out there in the darkness the song must have touched a great many people: some divorcee, someone facing a bad lab report, someone contemplating suicide.

Across the aisle there might have been someone depressed. They sang because they had lost their jobs or their faith or someone they loved dearly. And there in the darkness they reached out and touched something that took them in and carried them along.

I thought about that experience as I waded through the sad griefs of the support group I lead. The story brought to mind the friend who lost a daughter unexpectedly much too soon, the friend who said goodbye to her aging mother and those young parents losing their first-born.

I remembered those neighbors of ours lost in that terrible plane crash in Alaska. I thought of much of the sadness out there in the darkness. Nineteen firefighters in the prime of their lives are no more. The victims of the Boston Marathon — not to speak of our boys and girls that still come home in flag-draped boxes. We all know that the darkness is real and difficult.

All of us need something powerful to hang on to either in our own darkness or helping a friend go through their hard time. We long to get in touch with the human chord that might just make us remember again that we really are all the same. The unrelenting forces out there try to drive a wedge between us and them — but we know better.

Most of those sitting in that theater were touched by something primal and real. That’s why they sang in the darkness. For just a few hours they were one – fellow strugglers — all on a hard journey.

Toward the end of his life Wallace Stegner wrote a novel called Crossing to Safety. It told the story of an old couple who had been married for many years. They both had physical problems and found it hard to get around. They had been through the ups and downs that life brings to most couples. They were still together, she on her walker and he on his cane. One of the characters observed: “None of us can cross the choppy waters to safety alone — someone has to help us.”

An old hymn may help many of us. Reaching out to others sometimes does the trick. But from time to time we all need a reminder that the human spirit is resilient.

Those of us that are acquainted with the darkness really can make it across the choppy waters. All the grievers who move away from the cemetery can learn that the new-fresh mound is not the end though it seems like it.

Whatever life brings — and often it is hellish — the human spirit can get up from the most distressing of things and move on. Not alone but with others and with a power that is unseen but very real.

There really is a Blessed Assurance. The darkness is not the end. And so when the play is over and the lights in the theater come up — people will file out and go their separate ways. I hope they take with them the words of the old song:

Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of raptures now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above,
Echoes of mercy whispers of love.

I hope they can make it, and so can we all.


OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:TheologyMediaPastoral CareCommentaries
More by
Roger Lovette
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • Here’s what I’m learning in therapy

      Opinion

    • Tony and Lauren Dungy know something about influence, on the field and at home

      News

    • Skepticism holds seeds of hope: The SBC and clergy sex abuse

      Opinion

    • Letter to the Editor: I also stand with Brittney Griner and kneel for the Anthem

      Opinion


    Curated

    • The Faith-Based Politics of El Salvador’s Millennial President

      The Faith-Based Politics of El Salvador’s Millennial President

      August 15, 2022
    • Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples

      Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples

      August 15, 2022
    • Religion, Spirituality Second Most Frequently Read Genre in U.S.

      Religion, Spirituality Second Most Frequently Read Genre in U.S.

      August 15, 2022
    • Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

      Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

      August 15, 2022
    Read Next:

    When conservatives today speak of ‘states’ rights,’ they likely don’t mean the popular vote; here’s a case in point

    AnalysisMark Wingfield

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • No, Dan Patrick, God did not write the U.S. Constitution

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Black religion and reparation questions

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • Progressive National Convention joins with AFL-CIO to advance racial and economic justice

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What happened to American conservatism? Engaging Matthew Continetti’s The Right

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Historic Kentucky church calls gay man as co-pastor

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Department of Justice investigating SBC on sexual abuse

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • ‘Everything is changing at the same time,’ veteran religion reporter explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Skepticism holds seeds of hope: The SBC and clergy sex abuse

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • Tony and Lauren Dungy know something about influence, on the field and at home

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Here’s what I’m learning in therapy

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Letter to the Editor: I also stand with Brittney Griner and kneel for the Anthem

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • It’s easier to be a bully today, author explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • A thoughtful question at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • When conservatives today speak of ‘states’ rights,’ they likely don’t mean the popular vote; here’s a case in point

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • Transitions for the week of 8-12-22

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • SBC president says he tried to enlist more women for sexual abuse task force but got turned down repeatedly

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • At long last, Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy appears to be dead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • In applauding Victor Orban, U.S. conservatives call their shot

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Christian nationalism is a danger to our nation

      OpinionMarvin McMickle

    • How The Jetsons and Westworld help us think about robots, personhood and faith

      AnalysisRick Pidcock

    • Some evangelical leaders see FBI visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as evidence of the religious persecution coming to them

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Advice from a sunflower

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • Where are the women on the SBC’s first and second sexual abuse task forces?

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • New study finds scammers luring migrants with false information via Facebook and WhatsApp

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • What I learned at Wake Forest Baptist Church

      OpinionDavid Ramsey

    • Progressive National Convention joins with AFL-CIO to advance racial and economic justice

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Historic Kentucky church calls gay man as co-pastor

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Department of Justice investigating SBC on sexual abuse

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • ‘Everything is changing at the same time,’ veteran religion reporter explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Tony and Lauren Dungy know something about influence, on the field and at home

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • It’s easier to be a bully today, author explains

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Transitions for the week of 8-12-22

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • SBC president says he tried to enlist more women for sexual abuse task force but got turned down repeatedly

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • At long last, Trump’s ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy appears to be dead

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Some evangelical leaders see FBI visit to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago as evidence of the religious persecution coming to them

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • New study finds scammers luring migrants with false information via Facebook and WhatsApp

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Progressive Baptist congregation on Wake Forest campus votes to close

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • South African women’s soccer team success shines a light on gender wage discrimination

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • It isn’t a church and doesn’t have members, but it is a way to keep United Methodists in the fold as their congregations disaffiliate

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Rural church offers community development grants through Gratitude Project

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The church needs to do better on monkeypox than it did on HIV, faith leaders say

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Russell Moore named editor in chief of Christianity Today

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • 40 Congressmen urge IRS to reconsider classification of Family Research Council as a ‘church’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Online religion content isn’t luring Millennials away from in-person church

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Study finds congregational leaders report LGBTQ conversations are worth the pain

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • There’s something odd about this Mary, did you know?

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Cuban government clamps down more on religion

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • September symposium will celebrate life and legacy of John Claypool

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • No, Dan Patrick, God did not write the U.S. Constitution

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • Black religion and reparation questions

      OpinionWendell Griffen

    • What happened to American conservatism? Engaging Matthew Continetti’s The Right

      OpinionDavid Gushee, Senior Columnist

    • Skepticism holds seeds of hope: The SBC and clergy sex abuse

      OpinionChrista Brown

    • Here’s what I’m learning in therapy

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • Letter to the Editor: I also stand with Brittney Griner and kneel for the Anthem

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • A thoughtful question at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • In applauding Victor Orban, U.S. conservatives call their shot

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Christian nationalism is a danger to our nation

      OpinionMarvin McMickle

    • Advice from a sunflower

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • What I learned at Wake Forest Baptist Church

      OpinionDavid Ramsey

    • Why can’t we accept sexual and gender diversity in humans as well as in all creation?

      OpinionDan McGee

    • I’ve been unaware of my privilege, and if you are a man, you probably have, too

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • Are left-wing radicals pushing Cracker Barrel to the edge of the slippery slope?

      OpinionBrett Younger

    • To be more welcoming, let’s remove our flags

      OpinionJustin Pierson

    • News flash: Not all Baptists are Southern

      OpinionBrian Kaylor

    • Why aren’t we defending Brittney Griner?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • A school administrator reflects on rebuilding relationships between schools and homes

      OpinionStanton Eugene Lawrence

    • Judging the stripper and the carouser in ourselves at the Communion table

      OpinionBrad Bull

    • After the Guidepost report, we need to know more about FBC Woodstock’s City of Refuge and NAMB’s support for it: Was ‘moral failures’ code for sexual abuse?

      OpinionJoanna Sullivan

    • Forsaking Baal for the God who is in recovery

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Thomas Merton, Martin Luther King and Critical Race Theory

      OpinionKen Zagacki

    • What evangelicals won’t tell you about the actual sin of Sodom

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Giving birth in prison: The grief of separation, the grace of presence

      OpinionKathy Manis Findley

    • Dear Denny Burk, your view of gender is not biblical, it is dangerous

      OpinionEllie Dote

    • The Faith-Based Politics of El Salvador’s Millennial President

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Reckoning with their history, Lutherans issue declaration to Indigenous peoples

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Religion, Spirituality Second Most Frequently Read Genre in U.S.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pope Francis meets transgender guests of Rome church

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Politicians seek to control classroom discussions about slavery in the US

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Despite vastly different values, evangelical ‘Hamilton’ connects secular left and Christian right

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Both Open- and Close-mindedness Increase in U.S.

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Native Americans urge boycott of ‘tone deaf’ Pilgrim museum

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Boston’s Jews are getting a ‘Jewish tavern’ to study religious text — and drink beer

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ReAwaken Tour host says he feels harassed by NY prosecutor

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why the largest US Lutheran denomination apologized to a Latino congregation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Supreme Court Wants to End the Separation of Church and State

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Suspect in Dallas salon May shooting indicted for anti-Asian hate crime

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Anglican Division over Scripture and Sexuality Heads South

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Amy Spitalnick, who took on neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, is moving to Bend the Arc

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • New York City’s Largest Evangelical Church Plans Billion-Dollar Development

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ben & Jerry’s fears its new Israeli owner could sell ‘Judea and Samaria’ ice cream in latest court hearing

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why Alexander Hamilton gave his heart to Jesus at a Texas church this weekend

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Baby Blues: How to Face the Church’s Growing Fertility Crisis

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Orthodox Alaska Part 2: The Beatles, Bees And Orthodoxy Animated In One Man’s Life

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Hundreds of thousands gather for mass prayer in Baghdad

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ukrainian seminary professor faces difficult decisions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Nondenominational Churches Are Adding Millions of Members. Where Are They Coming From?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • The Religious Right’s Agenda Is Center Stage Again — And It’s As Unpopular As Ever

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • After Trump, Christian nationalist ideas are going mainstream – despite a history of violence

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2022 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS