I've been thinking about deliverance a lot lately. It's a concept that's central to Christianity as I know it. Perhaps it is one of the main contributions of the Judeo in Judeo-Christian.
Christians study deliverance from sinfulness, deliverance from tyranny, deliverance from uncertainty and doubt, deliverance from temptation, deliverance from bondage, deliverance from pain and suffering, deliverance from eternal damnation. It brings to my mind passage through trials.
That's what I suspect those who first sang "Didn't It Rain" were picturing when they first were hearing about the Bible and Jesus. But not, as Massa might have assumed as he listened from the porch of the Big House, the end to Noah's tribulations during the Great Flood and the believer's eternal reward for being "good and faithful servants."
No, they sang about the end to "40 days and 40 nights" of the toil and terror of chattel slavery. But even after Emancipation, and when the words and notes of the great "Negro Spiritual" were set on paper in 1919, the song's full meaning was intact. And I feel it retains its meaning to this day.
"Well, it rained forty days, forty nights without stoppin'
Noah was glad, when the water stopped droppin'
When I get to heaven, sit right down
Askin' Jesus for my starry crown."
Noah was glad, when the water stopped droppin'
When I get to heaven, sit right down
Askin' Jesus for my starry crown."
While it most certainly intones assurance of heavenly reward, it also says to me, with clarity, the present world will be set aright for it is wicked.
This rousing, jubilant rendition is by Hugh Laurie, known to most who know him as Dr. Gregory House from the television series House. Laurie, as was demonstrated on the program, is an accomplished musician who has great affection for the American songbook. Jean McLain is the featured vocalist.
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