A Reason To Sing
“I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.” — Psalm 34:1
Several decades ago, a Methodist minister, Harold Bosley, told a story from his student days at the University of Chicago in the 1930s. He and some fellow students went to a conference that was being held at a largely black church on the North side of Chicago. The conference featured a panel of four speakers who were discussing how to deal with the problems of life. One of the speakers was the attorney, Clarence Darrow, who had gained recognition as the defense lawyer in the famous Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee.
Those were the dark, difficult days of the Great Depression in America. People were in desperate need, but couldn’t find jobs, and there was despair throughout the land — but, of all people, the blacks of Chicago seemed to be suffering even more than others. When Clarence Darrow rose to speak, he began to talk about those issues and the hard times that the blacks were experiencing. In the course of his remarks he said, “But, I don’t understand it. You sing such great music. I have heard you singing here today. Amid all the woes of life, how can you sing? What in the world do you have to sing about in the face of all you’re going through?” He intended that as a rhetorical question, not expecting anyone to answer — but quick as a flash a woman stood up right in front of him and said, “Why do…
