Still We Rise

On this July 4^th, the poem Still I Rise by Maya Angelou comes to mind.

As we think upon the painful realities of the recent tragic deaths, and the families and communities grieving those losses, the figurative words of the sixth stanza have an even deeper and literal meaning: “You may shoot me with your words,/You may cut me with your eyes,/ You may kill me with your hatefulness,/But still, like air, I’ll rise.” Indeed, we have been literally shot at, cut down, and killed, and yet, we rise! The tide of change is rising! The peaceful protests and call for justice have arisen. The movements for legislation and reform have arisen. Still, we rise!

As we think upon the painful realities of the recent tragic deaths, and the families and communities grieving those losses, the figurative words of the sixth stanza have an even deeper and literal meaning: “You may shoot me with your words,/You may cut me with your eyes,/ You may kill me with your hatefulness,/But still, like air, I’ll rise.” Indeed, we have been literally shot at, cut down, and killed, and yet, we rise! The tide of change is rising! The peaceful protests and call for justice have arisen. The movements for legislation and reform have arisen. Still, we rise!

So, as we mark another passing of the Independence Day of this nation, I leave you with the final two stanzas, which remind us that no matter the fears of the moment, we have a legacy of overcoming:Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.

Family, this determination to rise victoriously is rooted in the very Word of God and the Gospel itself. In Genesis 50:20, we read the words of Joseph, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Satan thought he won at the cross, but our Lord rose victorious from the grave, crushing the head of the serpent, as He promised He would from Genesis.

We have a long way to go, but we have come a mighty long way! We have freedoms yet to be won…but we are free. We are free!

Carry on, family…Carry On!

1. Maya Angelou, “Still I Rise” from And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems.  Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou.  Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou(1994) Used under the Fair Use provision of the copyright laws, as governed by the US Copyright Office.