My old classmate from Indiana, Joan Z, also sent me this old classic – His eye is on the Sparrow. I chose the version by Whitney Houston because… well, because Whitney! 🙂

This beautiful song reminds me, God, that you have me in your big awesome sight at all times. If you take care of the birds and the plants, surely you take care of me too. In my little and large challenges, your eye is on me and your hand is there to protect and redirect. It is natural and human that we sometimes feel discouraged when we are hit by a disappointment or a loss. When we are alone — and lonely — we feel isolated. But we are reminded in this song that we have a constant companion in the Holy Spirit. So we are never alone. The key though is that we have to know and acknowledge your presence, God; as Whitney sings: “I know he watches over me.” I want to lodge that knowledge and assurance in my consciousness so that I remember it all day, every day.

Psalm 84:3 Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself…blessed are those who dwell in your house.

Listen! “There is a balm in Gilead” is one of those old gospel songs and bible stories I used to go back to when I was weary or disappointed or just downright exhausted. My old friend and classmate from graduate school Joan Zaretti sent it my way as one of her favorites and I’m so happy she did, because I had forgotten how uplifting that song was. Of course, it’s figurative, but it is so real to me. In the story Jeremiah is explaining his convo with God and he asks “Is there no balm in Gilead?” Is there no healing, saving, hope, assistance? If we know the character of God, we know there is always a balm in Gilead.

Yesterday I had a long and hard day. I went to see a friend in the Berkshires and had to drive back at night. The GPS took me through narrow winding roads in the dark hills and I got nervous. I kept myself distracted with a podcast on my phone. Then I lost signal so it got silent up there on that dark road. And I couldn’t touch my phone because I was concentrating so hard on the road. I started humming “Balm in Gilead” and my nerves slowly settled.

I’m grateful for the assurance that my good God is always there to soothe and lift me back up and set me on a safe journey home to safety. I just have to reach out and take the balm.

Jeremiah 46:11. Go up to Gilead and take the balm.

I am so thrilled that my friend Traci Wilson-Kleekamp sent me this song – and am not at all surprised it came from her. Traci is deeply committed to social justice. That she would recommend a song that calls on all to come close to God where they will find freedom, healing, uplifting, comfort makes complete sense. Also, this is a sacred song from two classic soul singers. The incredible duo of Flack and Hathaway, well known for their love songs, turn their attention to this wonderful old hymn. They bring the same level of compelling sincerity to this spiritual song. In fact, they change it from a traditional hymn to a negro spiritual. I love that this song by these two artists throws away the ridiculous notion that if you live in a secular world you are not worthy to offer spiritual wisdom.

“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot cure.” That line is so hopeful to me. When life looks bleak, this reminder sheds light on our path. There is nothing that God cannot do, turn around, lift up. Who are the disconsolate? All of us at one time or another. This is why this song feels so much like a negro spiritual. Imagine what that existence must have been like – a perpetual and never ending state of oppression. Yet songs like this reminded them that there would eventually be a way out, not just in heaven but here on earth.

We all go through those dark avenues, whether it is our health, our careers, our relationships, our families trials. This song is a fervent reminder that we can rise up from the state of discomfort or unhappiness. We just have to keep our eye on the prize and rely on God to get us to the finish line.

Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, yes, comfort my people!” says your God.

This old standard was offered by my fb friend Bertin Louis. People who believe in you, God have different symbols for accessing your power. For me, I have grown up understanding that Jesus died for me and that the blood shed was precious for my redemption. Thank you for that blood, dear God. As the song says, it reaches to the highest mountain and flows to the lowest valley. There is nowhere that I go, nothing I do, that is too far from the blood that gives me strength from day to day. It will never lose its power.

Every morning, I should reflect on my truth that you give me that anointing to walk through the day with that power that you have given me, dear God. In my interactions, as I teach, as I write, as I travel, as I present or moderate, that awesome power helps me to succeed – day to day, hour to hour. I have faith in the blood as a symbol of your vast grace that forgives me when I ask for forgiveness, and that blesses me to shine on every level.

Ephesians 1:7 In God we have redemption through the blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of God’s grace.

This is a joyful praise song from Kurt Carr and the Kurt Carr singers. Clarissa Hughes, a former Mizzou student, sent me this selection, and I can see why it’s a favorite for her. I always loved running into Clarissa on campus because she exuded positivity and love.

When we wake up in the morning, it is so important to acknowledge the wonder of our Creator. This song reminds us of the splendor of nature, the incomparable power of God to bring us through each day. It’s so good to be reminded that we are never alone in our ordinary selves, but that God carries us along and that we can tap into that awesome wonder. When my day is busy and full of speed bumps, I must remind myself that God is an awesome wonder that can carry me smoothly over those speed bumps; and that God will do that for me again and again. God, you made everything, you made me, you made my family, you are faithful and ever true. I’m grateful.

Isaiah 29:14. Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder.

This song! It was offered by friend and fellow Black Studies scholar Bertin Louis. Whenever I hear this song, particularly rendered by Marvin Winans, I am brought to a halt because it just says it all. “Let the church say Amen” is repeated again and again, reminding us of being in a congregation after a great word from a preacher or a church announcer or a deacon. It is a black church thing, a reminder that as a people, the concept of community is special. We say “Amen” together; we say it in hopes (and assurance!) that God hears us coming together to acknowledge and affirm the truth of the great love God has for on us.

“Amen” means “so be it.” We say it to all the promises that God has given us from age to age – the promises he gave to our ancestors which have been translated to us. If we know God then we know that those promises are good and compassionate and fair and just and loving and will result in our good future. When things aren’t going my way, I should say “Amen” as a reminder of how this will pass and how my day or my month or my year is bound to return to a path of success. I should say “Amen” because I am still under the protective wings of my great good God. And when loved ones are going through, our job is to remember God’s promises for them for healing, triumph, answered prayers, and so we say “Amen. So be it.” I think God loves hearing us say “Amen” and actually meaning it. Let the church say Amen!

2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God are Yes and Amen, to the glory of God through us.

Travis Greene’s “Made a Way” was also sent to me by Chika Onyewuchi. So often we stand at a junction of life and wonder how we will move forward. I look at my projects and think that I will never be able to complete them. The to-do list looks formidable and I’m not sure how I will cross every item from my list. I look at our stack of bills, college tuition for the children, mortgage payments, and wonder how we will get through to the next month. But God always makes a way! “And we are standing here only because you made a way,” Greene sings. It’s the truth. I look at my family, my children, my career, and I cannot deny that God is the only way I got here.

God moves mountains that seem immovable. Either the mountains move or God gives us the strength to barrel through the mountains. But it takes our faith to activate the shifting of the mountain. I love the agency that I am offered to tap into God’s awesome power.

Matt 17:20 If you have faith as a mustard seed you will say to this mountain ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

The reminder in “Excess Love” by Mercy Chinwo is critical to my understanding of God’s character. The song was sent to me by my old family friend, Chika Onyewuchi. My family and her’s have been close since we were children. I’m so glad she sent me this song. The reminder of the expanse and depth of God’s love is one that I wish everybody would accept. God’s love is excess, plentiful, good, endless. No matter what we do, how far we fall, God’s love is big enough to catch us and embrace us in forgiveness if we ask for it.

This song has deep political and humanistic implications. If we remember that God is supernaturally loving, how can you be racist, sexist, misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic? God is none of those things, so if you use God’s name to hate, your God is not this loving God. How can you think that your culture and your understanding of God is superior to others? How can you imagine that our ancestors’ understandings of God, without knowing the word/name Jesus, damned them to hell? Check yourself! This is why I sometimes struggle with this Christianity. So much of the organized Christian church is judgmental and hateful. I grew up learning that God loved me so much that Jesus died for me. That is LOVE. I’m so grateful for this foundational example of LOVE. And that love is understood in different ways around the world. God is too big to be limited to only one interpretation. I wish we would embrace all the complexions of God’s love. Yes, my experience with God’s love is through Jesus. Someone in a small village somewhere may have another experience of God’s love. And that is a manifestation of God’s excess love!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believed in him would have eternal life.

While I was at the University of Missouri, my path crossed briefly with Dr. Brandon Boyd. Immediately I knew he would have a positive impact on me. It does not surprise me that this is one of his jams. This song is so positive! How often do we wake up each day and walk in it as if it is a new season? No matter what happened yesterday, God wants us to remember that it is in the past. The future is bright. “God has a plan already designed…Despite your past, you’ve got to keep smiling.” If we believe in God, then we must believe that we walk in favor, and that the new season will be better than the last season.

I’m writing this on a Saturday, exhausted from the week. I’m grateful for the blessings last week, and looking forward to new blessings in my new season next week. The struggles and mistakes made last week, last year, are gone. Today is a new day and a new season. “No chains holding me!”

Deuteronomy 28:12 The Lord will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.

This jubilant, assertive song by Sinach was offered by my old friend, Osoba Aire. I think of him as a younger cousin because our families were neighbors in Jos. I’m grateful for this suggestion because I had never heard of Sinach, an incredible Nigerian gospel singer who has obviously been influenced by African American gospel.

This song reminds me to declare and walk in my position as a child of God. There is no need to hide my light under a lamp. I love the fact that this song prods is to be confident, that we have everything we need to succeed. If God says I am fully equipped–and favored–to take on all obstacles, I should believe it. I’m inspired for the day. Sinach sings that we are “a chosen generation,” which is true! But I also believe that every generation before ours is a chosen generation too (including my ancestors who never heard the gospel). They are a chosen generation too and had access to this big God I believe in and depend on.

Luke 2:5 Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he promised to those who love him.