Hope is a Song in a Weary Throat

“Hope is a song in a weary throat.” These words, along with a picture of their author, the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, will grace the reverse side of a quarter to be minted in 2024 as part of a series of quarters honoring American women. Anna Pauline Murray (1910-1985) was an American civil and gender rights activist, scholar, poet, writer, lawyer, and Episcopal priest. She was an activist for civil rights before and during the Civil Rights Movement and, as an icon for women’s rights, was a co-founder of the National Organization for Women.

The words “Hope is a song in a weary throat” are one line from Verse 8 of a long poem titled “Dark Testament,” written by Murray in 1970. In many ways, these words symbolize her life of working for justice and freedom for all people, especially for women and people of color. She devoted her life to fighting for those who felt bereft of hope.

The anthem of the 1960s Civil Rights movement was “We Shall Overcome.” The song offered courage and hope for those who were fighting for equal rights for people of color. Sung by activists who battled prejudice, oppression, and even injury and death, it was indeed a song in a weary throat.

Though not related to the Civil Rights Movement, another song of the 1960s addressed the troubles we face in life. “You Were on My Mind” was a popular song that includes the words, “I got troubles, whoah-oh/I got worries, whoah-oh/I got wounds to bind.” The song was written by the Canadian singer and songwriter Sylvia Fricker, who later became Sylvia Tyson of the Ian & Sylvia musical duo. She wrote the song in her cockroach-infested apartment in New York City. Fricker’s antidote for troubles was to “walk away my blues.” Though walking is good therapy for many ills—especially if one needs to escape cockroaches—there is another remedy that provides a lasting balm to salve our troubled souls and bind our wounds.

That remedy is found in the “Balm of Gilead.” While the “Balm of Gilead” is thought to refer to a balsam plant that grows in parts of the Holy Land and is used for medicinal purposes, the spiritual “Balm in Gilead” refers to the love of Jesus “who died to save us all” and the comfort and strength of the Holy Spirit.

The first verse of the spiritual contains these words:

Sometimes I feel discouraged

and think my work’s in vain,

but then the Holy Spirit

revives my soul again.

And the refrain is:

There is a balm in Gilead

to make the wounded whole,

there is a balm in Gilead

to heal the sin-sick soul.

When our trials and tribulations seem to be too great to bear, we can call on God’s holy and life-giving Spirit to revive our souls again. We can reach out for the One who rescued the Apostle Peter from the waves of the Sea of Galilee and sing “Love Lifted Me” to remind ourselves that Christ is a very present help in trouble.

The Gospel Song “Love Lifted Me,” written by James Rowe and Howard Smith, is based, in part, on the Gospel account of Jesus walking on the water (Matthew 14:22-33). In this pericope, Simon Peter tried to walk on the water toward Jesus, who was walking on the lake, but Peter became terrified by the wind and waves and began to sink. He cried out to Jesus, and Our Lord saved him. The words of the chorus are:

Love lifted me! Love lifted me!

When nothing else could help

Love lifted me.

The song assures us that God’s love can lift us up and rescue us, even when the seas of life are stormy--even when our tribulations seem unendurable.

Jesus himself assured his followers to trust in him in times of trouble. He said, “In this world, you will have tribulations, but take hope, for I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Jesus knows our troubles, our heartaches, and our physical pain, for he experienced them—he even experienced the agonizing pain of a shameful death. Yet, Jesus overcame death by his rising to life again and he told us that because he lives, we also shall live (John 13:19). Jesus gave us comfort and reassurance in his promise that he would be with us, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

When we are beset by troubles and worries, we can take hope in knowing that God’s love is always with us and nothing can separate us from that amazing love. As St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome (Romans 8: 39), “[nothing] in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

“In this world, you will have tribulations, but take hope (or be of good cheer), for I have overcome the world.” We can cling to these words when the going gets tough. We can rest assured that Jesus has overcome the world and, because of him, we can overcome whatever life throws at us. Things may not turn out as we envision, but with Jesus as our strength and our stay, we can endure the tribulations of this life.

When we are discouraged by injustice and oppression in this broken world, we can walk hand in hand with Jesus, singing “We Shall Overcome.” When the trials and tribulations of life wear us down, we can remember the words of “Love Lifted Me” and call out to Jesus for help. When our wounds become unbearable, we can turn to the “Balm in Gilead” who makes the wounded whole. When we feel bereft of all worldly hope, we can “Put our hand in the hand of the Man from Galilee” and trust in God’s “Amazing Grace.”

“Hope is a song in a weary throat.” What song fills your weary throat when you need to take hope?

Source: U.S. Mint

https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-medal-programs/american-women-quarters/pauli-murray

by the Rev. Peggy Hotchkiss, Ed.D., St. Barnabas’ Episcopal Church