Give Me Jesus and other spirituals

"Give Me Jesus" is the title of the spiritual that the Christ Church Choir sang Sunday May 25. It is a new spiritual to me so I decided to do some research on the back ground of the spiritual. Here is part of what I found:

Give Me Jesus

The spiritual often elects Jesus as the slave’s closest and most reliable friend. He is coming in person to gather up his friends and

take them to heaven. Give Me Jesus shows a touching faith in that relationship.

“You may have all this world. Give me Jesus”.

There are two different versions of this spiritual. this comes from : http://www.negrospirituals.com/history.htm

The choir sang the second version.

GIVE ME JESUS (Second version)

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I heard my mother say
I heard my mother say
I heard my mother say
« Give me Jesus »

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus
You may have all this world
Give me Jesus

At dark midnight, was my cry
Dark midnight was my cry
Dark midnight was my cry
“Give me Jesus”

In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
In the morning, when I rise
Give me Jesus

And when I come to die
And when I come to die
And when I come to die
Give me Jes(us)

The first version is:

GIVE ME JESUS (First version)

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Oh when I come to die
Oh when I come to die
Oh when I come to die
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You may have the world
Give me Jesus

I heard my mother say
I heard my mother say
I heard my mother say
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You may have the world
Give me Jesus

Dark midnight was my cry
Dark midnight was my cry
Dark midnight was my cry
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You may have the world
Give me Jesus

In the morning when I rise
In the morning when I rise
In the morning when I rise
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You may have the world
Give me Jesus

I heard the mourner say
I heard the mourner say
I heard the mourner say
Give me Jesus
Give me Jesus
You may have the world
Give me Jesus
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Susan Logan sang:
"Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"

NOBODY KNOWS DE TROUBLE I’VE SEEN

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Nobody knows de trouble I’ve seen
Nobody knows de trouble but Jesus
Nobody knows de trouble I’ve seen
Glory Hallelujah!

Sometimes I’m up, sometimes I’m down
Oh, yes, Lord
Sometimes I’m almost to de groun’
Oh, yes, Lord

Although you see me goin’ ‘long so
Oh, yes, Lord
I have my trials here below
Oh, yes, Lord

If you get there before I do
Oh, yes, Lord
Tell all-a my friends I’m coming too
Oh, yes, Lord


Here is the interpretation by Joe Carter http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/joecarter/gallery.shtml

Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen"
The authors of most spirituals are unknown. Various tales, often apocryphal, account for the origins of many songs. One legend has it that upon emancipation, newly freed slaves gathered on a South Carolina island were awaiting promised land grants from the government. "It was a great, wonderful day," says Carter. But when a government agent informed the crowd that no grants were forthcoming, one woman spontaneously began singing this song, making it up as she went.

I usually hum the music that we have sung all week, this week it is "Give Me Jesus". For more information go to the on line resources.
Jeannette Brown

Muhlenberg Hospital Plainfield NJ

Today in church the plight of the people of Plainfield was discussed because of the pending closing of Mulenberg Hospital. The closing was discussed at the New Jersey Association meeting and a letter was generated and sent to the state.
I figured that you might want some background information about the hospital and its closing.
The first article that I found about the closing was in the Star Ledger Saturday February 23, 2008, 4:15 PM "Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center shutting its doors" : http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/muhlenberg_regional_medical_ce.html
The article begins; "Faced with mounting deficits caused mainly by insufficient state aid to cover all its uninsured patients, officials at Muhlenberg Regional Medical Center in Plainfield plan to close the 130-year-old facility later this year." It also said it would temporarily maintain the emergency room service.
The next article is also from the Star Ledger : "500 protest closing of Muhlenberg hospital in Plainfield " Saturday March 15, 2008, 5:02 PM http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/500_protest_closing_of_muhlenb.html
That was the second held that month in protest of the hospital's closing. Organizer Lawrence Hamm of the People's of Organization for Progress said the group planed a third rally on April 5 in Trenton.
There is a complete blog about the closing of the hospital that will tell you more than you want to know about the closing. "Save Muhlenberg" http://savemuhlenberg.blogspot.com/2008/03/closings-of-hospitals-such-as.html
For information about the "current" services of the hospital and what would be lost I refer you to the hospital website: http://www.muhlenberg.com/muhlenberg-regional/. There is also information about the Muhlenberg Foundation on that webpage.
I hope this helps.
Jeannette Brown

Sacred Conversation about Race

You may have heard about the UCC churches having a sacred conversation about race on Sunday May 18th. At Christ Church Chuck will start the process by preaching about it. We will have the whole summer to do some reading and thinking and maybe private conversations before we have our "Sacred Conversation" in early September.

The following is a quote from the UCC web:
"The UCC is holding this national dialogue in order to foster a spirit of healing and unity in our churches and communities. While much has been said during the past few weeks about the Rev. Jeremiah A Wright Jr., this dialogue among our members is intended to be a larger conversation, one not focused directly or exclusively on the recent controversy, but one certainly influenced by it.
Sacred conversations are never easy, especially when honest talk confronts our nation's painful past and speaks directly to the injustices of the present day. Yet sacred conversations can, and often do, honor the value of diverse life experiences, requiring an openness to hear each others' viewpoints. Growth often happens when honest conversations are communicated in a respectful environment."

Over the summer you will hear a lot about race as the media and politicians play the race card because of the first possible African American nominee for President. This would be similar to the gender card if the first woman is the nominee. But the difference between playing the race card and the gender card is that the race card hurts. There is a history of people who have been killed only because of the color of their skin. In this country I don't believe we physically abuse women.

The UCC website http://www.ucc.org/sacred-conversation/ has a number of resources that can be used as you prepare for our conversation about race in the fall. Also as a member of the UCC Anti racism task force I have put a lot of material that can be used on the Christ Church website.

First I believe everyone should read the pastoral letter which is posted on the website. Then go through the steps.

The Pilgrim press has listed some books that can be a part of your summer reading. I will bring the books that I have to display tomorrow. I don't know if we have them in the library.

I would also recommend viewing "Eyes on the Prize I & II" to see the history of the civil rights movement. Most libraries have a copy.

For those of you who would like to start an online dialog you may post comments and information on this blog.

My colleagues on the Anti racism task force want to focus on African American racism, although this might be too broad I think racism of any kind against any people is not to be tolerated.

Here is a segment from the Pastoral Letter of 2008:

"As members of the United Church of Christ, we have a rich history of spirited resistance
to racism that can serve as both a resource and an inspiration for this sacred work. One such
resource is the Pastoral Letter on Racism and
the Role of the Church published in 1991 by the Commission for Racial Justice. The biblical,
theological, and political analysis of this ground-breaking document remains relevant for our day. The Pastoral Letter on Racism boldly names the “sin and idolatry of racism” and calls Christians to renew their commitment to be a people grounded in the love and justice embodied in Jesus Christ and the beloved community that King envisioned.
The Pastoral Letter on Racism documented what it called “a sobering truth” – namely, that despite the meaningful progress achieved during the civil rights era, “quality of life for the majority of racial and ethnic people is worse today in many ways than it was during the 1960s.” The letter went on to name a number of disturbing trends that signaled growing racial intolerance and hostility: increasing inequities between the rich and the poor; charges of “reverse racism”and attacks on affirmative action; a resurgence of racially motivated hate crimes and; fear of “foreigners” surfacing in movements such as “English Only.”
Seventeen years later, in 2008, we might wish to believe that we have made significant progress in addressing and reversing those alarming trends. Lamentably, that claim cannot be substantiated."
It goes on but I think that sums up the reasons for this conversation.
Jeannette Brown