LEST WE FORGET!

February is Black History Month.  This month has been set aside to celebrate the accomplishments and achievements of African Americans.  During this month, there will be discussions and displays about the many Black men and women that have played a significant role in the development of this country and the ongoing progress of Black people.  For a whole month, we will remember our ancestors’ blood-stained journey from the Motherland to the shores of Jamestown, Virginia.  But, after February, most of us will have selected-amnesia.  We will again forget the price paid by the many unnamed saints and martyrs, who gave their life so we could have access to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Most of all, we will disregard the God who has been our bridge over troubled waters.

     In the text above, Moses warns the people about the perils of prosperity.  They were to recall again and again what God has done for them.  It was God that led them from Egypt to Canaan.  It was God that kept them forty years in the wilderness.  God and God alone had fed them with manna from heaven and gave them water from a rock to drink.  Now that they were in Canaan, the supply of food would be less supernatural, as they ate of abundant crops, mined resources of silver, gold and copper, and prospered from enlarged flocks and herds.  As they tended the crops and developed the natural resources they would tend to forget about God and His provision.  In their pride and prosperity, they might begin to think that their power and the strength of their hands had produced their wealth.  Moses admonishes them not to forget God.  He said, “…I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish” (v19d)    

     I don’t know about you, but sometimes I wonder if we have not become like the Israelites.  I think I can say without successful contradiction, that we as a race people are doing better than anyone could have imagined, just twenty years ago.  I think I am correct in saying there has been no race of people that have come so far with so little in such a short time as Black people.  My mother must be rolling over in her grave considering the house that I am living in, the cars I have and the jobs I have enjoyed.  My blessings are more than the stars.  I also think it is safe to say that any Black person over forty years old (Those under forty years old do not have an authentic poor story.) can testify with me that God has been good.  Sometimes it appears as if we have forgotten where we have come from and who it was that brought us along the way.  As we contemplate this February, what can we do to ensure that we never forget the Giver of all our gifts?

     First, we need to celebrate and remember our rich history more than just in February.

Second, we should look for teaching moments during the years with our children and with others.  When you stop at a red light, you should tell your children and others that Garrett A. Morgan, a Black man, invented the first one.  Or, when you go to the hospital, you should tell your children and others that it was Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a Black man, who performed the first successful heart operation.  You should discover and investigate the many contributions Blacks have made to the advancement of America and share the information with others.  Third, every time you move into a new home, every time you get a promotion or raise on your job, every time you walk into a fine hotel or great restaurant, every time you use public transportation and sit where you choose, you should thank God.  Finally, we should never cease to testify how God opened up our Red Sea and brought us through our Wilderness experiences  

     There were consequences if Israel would continue to forget their God.  Let us not forget our God.  We are in a land flowing with milk and honey.  While we may not yet have full access, God is still working it out.  Soon and very soon we will enjoy all the fruit of this great land.  Oh, I hope and I pray that after we have eaten our full and have built great homes, acquired many cars, amassed a lot of jewels and certificates of deposit that we will still remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

            “God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who hast brought

            us thus far on the way;  Thou who hast by Thy might, led us into the light,

            Keep us forever in the path we pray.  Lest our feet stray from the places,

            our God, where we met Thee, Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the

            world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, may we forever

stand, True to our God, true to our native land.”

                                 (Lift Every Voice And Sing, by Johnson)