Is God trying to tell you something?

“The Color Purple” aired on Public TV the other night.  Whoopi Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover -- what a cast Steven Spielberg assembled for this beautifully directed movie, which debuted 26 years ago.  I watch very little TV, but remembering this story as worthy of five stars, set aside the time.  So glad I did.

Let's focus on the old fashioned Gospel song near the end of the movie.  Here’s a tiny bit of background to set the scene.

Rural Georgia, early 1900s
Celie (Whoopi Goldberg) - main character
Albert (Danny Glover) - Celie’s abusive husband
Shrug - popular jazz and blues singer with dubious reputation

Shrug has been trying to reconnect with her daddy -- a local preacher who turned his back on her years ago.  When she’s in town, Shrug sings at the local bar which is within easy earshot of her daddy’s church.

Albert has beaten his wife and told her she was worthless since she was fourteen.  Celie believed her beloved sister dead, when actually Albert had cruelly hidden her letters from his wife.  Finally as Shrug helped her recognize her self-worth, Celie found and read the cache of her sister’s  letters, gathered the courage to leave Albert, and has returned years later, financially independent, to inherit her father's home and land.

This particular Sunday morning, Shrug is singing to a full house at the bar. Her words, “So let me tell you somethin’ sister...” are interrupted by the Gospel choir across the little river, countering with their own message, “God is trying to tell you something.”  Shrug used to sing this same song in her daddy’s choir, and it speaks to her heart now.

Leading the bar crowd down the road and right through the front doors of the church, Shrug counterpoints with the choir -- as only classic Gospel can do -- with an affection and hope that God is trying to tell them all something!

Finally her daddy gets the message and embraces Shrug as she tells him, “See Daddy,  sinners have soul too.”  Albert sitting alone on his front porch also gets the message and uses a stash of hidden cash to set in motion a chain of events which will soon reunite Celie and her sister.

God’s message may involve a change of heart, a willingness to forgive and go forward, or maybe to repent and go forward, or maybe something else and go forward.  Sometimes, like the characters in the story, we need to pay attention.  We might well ask, "What is God trying to tell me today?"

Here’s a wonderful clip of the Gospel choir and Shrug’s joyous moment.

Moral courage at the grocery store

Donna's a good friend, a devout Irish-Catholic with a strong sense of what's right and what's wrong, and a willingness to speak out against injustice.

At a post- Christmas gathering she was bemoaning racism.  It's all around, she said, and told this story.

"Just last week I was at the grocery store.  Two customers in front of me was an African-American woman.  The cashier was having a difficult time scanning the items.  The woman in front of me became irate that the check-out was taking so long, and began speaking abusively to customer in front of her.

"When she ranted on and on I stepped between them.  'Excuse me,' I said, 'It is the cashier who is having a hard time scanning the groceries.  It is not this woman's fault.'

"The abusive customer then attacked me with her foul language.  I said, 'Your language is offensive, you're way off base, and you need to shut up (and I don't usually use that term) and find another line.'  The abusive words continued. 

"'Would you like me to call the authorities?' I asked.  Finally she shut up and left.

"The African-American woman was in tears, and thanked me.  'Did you say that because I was colored?' she asked.  'Oh,' I replied, 'Are you colored?  No, what's wrong is wrong.'

"When I finished checking out, a security guard appeared and said, 'I will escort you to your car.'  I told him he didn't need to do that.  Very firmly he repeated, 'I will escort you to your car.'  I thanked him."

Listening to her story, I was grateful to see the completeness of her unselfish interference -- in the presence of the security guard who saw her safely to her car.

I wondered if I would have had that kind of moral courage.  I told Donna she was very courageous.  Her reply?  "Somebody had to do something."

I pray for all mankind daily.  I trust that my prayers support and inspire moral courage where it is needed.  And I respect my friend for hers.

Panning for gold

Modern gold rush

Apparently people are panning for gold once again in the American west. Books like the one above are popular. The 49ers of 159 years ago created a brief and wild era as people from all walks of life tried to make their fortunes by panning for gold.

A few became wealthy; most were disappointed and resumed their lives wiser, if poorer, for their efforts.

Most folks regard the past with mixed feelings. Unhappy events make a greater impression than happy times and have a way, if given free rein, of monopolizing memory.

Bad, distressing, or unhappy past events should not be given free rein. For nearly everyone there is also good in the past, and it’s important to identify that good – because good is timeless.

John Greenleaf Whittier wrote, “All of good the past has had remains to make our own time glad. . . God’s love and blessing then and there, are now and here and everywhere.”

It’s a bit like panning for gold. As I understand it, you stand in or next to a shallow river and put a scoop of water, sand, and gravel into your sieve. The water washes away any muck, and in the remaining sediment miners hope to find some bright flecks of gold. It is relatively easy to remove the gold, and toss away the sediment.

So when we have occasion to pan our memories in the river of life, let’s be alert for those small bright flecks of goodness. Gently remove them, place them carefully where they won’t get lost, and throw out the sediment of unhappiness.

This doesn’t mean ignoring evil, or not coming to terms with abuse. It does mean that in spite of difficult times, goodness in some form was present and needs to be identified and celebrated in the present.

I remember reading an emotionally difficult autobiography of a man badly abused by a mentally ill mother. As a little boy he barely escaped her attempts to kill him. Finally a teacher at school recognized the signs of physical abuse and rescued the child – decades before teachers were taught how to look for abuse in their classrooms.

That teacher was a gold nugget in this boy’s tragic childhood.

The youngster overcame the effects of terrible cruelty and, as an adult, helps other children recover from abusive situations.

Every fleck of goodness adds to the substance of good in our lives. They help us live in and appreciate the “now” of God’s love.