The Forty-Day Journey of Promise
Day Thirty-Four: Sisters of the Spirit
Note: Welcome to The Journey, our forty-day blog series from MLK Day through the end of Black History Month. We’re learning life lessons from the legacy of African American Christianity. The series is based upon material from my book Beyond the Suffering. To learn more about Beyond the Suffering, including downloading a free chapter, click here.
The Invisible Woman
In the South, women faced slavery; in the North, prejudice. Everywhere they confronted double oppression—they were black and they were female.
Their remarkable stories must be told for the sake of all women, regardless of race. Their independence and strength, boldness and courage, ministry and sacrifice, care and concern, despite overwhelming obstacles, provide extraordinary models for women today.
The historical invisibility of African American Christian women is inexcusable. As the following posts attest, history is replete with countless black female exemplars of soul care and spiritual direction. Their obscurity is due to our willful blindness, not their lack of brilliance. Shining a light on their stories illuminates for all of us the visible, palpable ways in which they sustained, healed, reconciled, and guided, not only individuals, but an entire nation.
Mother Wit
Feminine African American spiritual directors followed the ancient model that Moses outlines in Deuteronomy 6:6-7. “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”
With biological children and with “spiritual” children, with females and with males, older African American women shared their “mother wit”—their proverbial wisdom found in the Scriptures, cultivated in community, and applied to daily life. One former slave from Louisiana offers her picturesque description of mother wit.
“I got Mother Wit instead of an education. Lots of colored people in offices and school don’t seem to know what Mother Wit is. Well, it’s like this: I got a wit to teach me what’s wrong. I got a wit to not make me a mischief-maker. I got a wit to keep people’s trusts. No one has to tell me not to tell what they say to me in confidence, for I respect what they say, and I never tell. I’m glad I had good raisin.’”
The mother wit schoolhouse was life, the textbook was the Bible. The lesson plan highlighted the generational passing of insights for living. The curriculum included reconciling (being taught “what’s wrong”), guiding (not being a “mischief-maker”), rapport building (“keep people’s trusts”), confidentiality (“I never tell”), respectful listening (“I respect what they say”), and so much more.
Join the Conversation (Post a Comment for a Chance to Receive a Copy of Beyond the Suffering)
1. What impact could knowledge of African American sisters of the Spirit have upon Americans? African Americans? African American females?
2. Why do you think that the history of African American females like these is so infrequently highlighted? What could be done to reverse this pattern?
3. Who has offered you mother wit: biblical wisdom filtered through mature life experience applied to your specific life situation? How? What impact has it had on you?
