Amy Lilley Designs: negro spiritual

'Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'Thus says the Lord," 'Let my people go, that they may serve me.'

Exodus 8:1

'When Israel was in Egypt's land
Let my people go
Oppressed so hard they could not stand
Let my people go

Go down Moses
Way down in Egypt's land
Tell old, Pharoh
Let my people go!

Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said
Let my people go
If not, I'll smite your first born dead
Let my people go

Go down Moses,
Way down in Egypt's land,
Tell old, Pharoh,
Let my people go!

No more shall they in bondage toil
Let my people go
Let them come out with Egypt's spoil
Let my people go

Go down Moses
Way down in Egypt's land
Tell old, Pharoh
Let my people go!'

Negro Spiritual, around 1862
This song is sung at many a Sedar celebration during the reading of the Haggadah.

Happy Passover!!
(read the entire story of Passover here)

Mom Pointer at her 90th birthday

This has been a difficult post to get out, so I decided to start with a portion of a letter I wrote to a friend this past Saturday:

"I have just lived through some of the most profound moments of my life, and at the end of hers, with Mom Pointer. We arrived in Brooklyn yesterday afternoon, and none too soon, because it is expected that she will not make it through the weekend. She has a notebook, so she can write, she is too weak to speak, but her mind is sharp. When I walked in to her room, she picked up her pen and wrote 'my daughter, I love you so much, how is Edward?' The timing of our visit was perfect. We stayed at the house for a couple of hours, not in the room with her the whole time, but when it was time for me to leave her, I got in real close, she gathered her strength, and in a whisper and said 'You are my daughter', and I said 'You are my mother.' Again, she said 'You are my daughter', and I repeated' 'You are my mother. ' It was a moment the likes of which I have never experienced. I had to see her. So, now, I rest, and wait for the news....'

Mom Pointer went home to be with the Lord in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Now, I will tell you what I know. She had the voice of an angel when she sang, she loved the Lord with all her heart, with all her soul and with all her might, she kept the plight of the Negro Spiritual alive as choral director of 'The Great Day Chorale' for the last 20 years of her life, and in that, her waters ran very deep . She was wife and mother to 3 amazing children, Olive, Billy and Noel, grandmother and great-grandmother to what seems like a small army of children. I was blessed to know and love her as 'Mom'.

Over the years I learned that the Pointer household had a revolving door, front and back, meaning that neighborhood children, of every race, color and creed, (our 4 legged friends alike), were in and out of that house at one point or another. Hundreds and hundreds of children, literally. We met close to 30 years ago at her home in Brooklyn, at a bible study around her famous dining room table. Many a person came and went from around the table as well, but even more life-long relationships were birthed at that very spot. As my personal relationship with the Lord grew, so did my personal relationship with Mom Pointer. She was my 'go to' person, when the waters of life became rough, and I can just hear her saying 'Amy, THIS is who you are, trust God, believe God.' So, in the end, my heart is sealed in the special bond we shared. Prayers for comfort and grace abound for the Pointer-Harney family, and for the long, long reach of Mom's extended family. Finally, a scripture she mouthed over and over and over again last Friday:

"The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds."
2 Corinthians 10:4