Saturday, April 22, 2017

A Majesty of Sound



You know
We have this trouble sometimes
With northern preachers

They just—

You know, they come down here
And they whisper
All soft and sacrosanct
To the point where—

I’m telling you, listen
Now this isn’t me being funny
I’m really meaning this stuff

—To the point where
Everybody’s leaning in
Like this—

Leaning all the way in

—So they can hear
What these fellas
Have to say

Now, when Jesus was speaking
Do you think
He made people lean in?

Got folks on the mountain
Folks on the hills
Folks in the thousands
Clamoring to catch a word
And you think he was whispering?

Hell no, he wasn’t whispering
He shouted
Jesus shouted
And we forget that

We forget that the man
--I mean, he must have had to
Really get that word out there

And why not?

It was a good word
Wasn’t it?

Why not shout it?

That’s what I wonder

These northern preachers come up here
Calling themselves priests
And I tell ‘em

Look, you can be a priest
In New York City
But down here
You’re a preacher
And get yourself a girlfriend
If you feel like it
Might wake you up
A little bit

Oh, they get scandalized
When I talk like that
Gets their tails up
You know what I mean?

But my mama spoke the word to me
And when she did it
She was so loud
They could hear her
Two counties over
And she wouldn’t put up
With none of this
Whispering and soft spoken
Bullshit

Daddy was quiet
But he was a very ill man
Couldn’t raise his voice for nothin’
So Mama had to do it
For the both of them

Sing the praises
Heap joy onto us all
Because I came from—

Well, it was a very big family

Back then, they were all
Big families

Everybody was one
Big family

I remember when my baby sister got baptized
Mama held her in the water
And yelled so loud
I thought she was going to wake up
Folks in Australia

Then she lifted up my sister
And the world went quiet
A new blessing had been bestowed
And there was a hush
And a cresting of a silence
That was louder
Than any sound
I’ve ever heard in my life

But it was born out of noise
Out of calamity
And an excess
Of sound

Praise be, I thought
As my little sister coughed
And scrunched up her face
And started to cry

Praise be
To all that
Heavenly
Majesty

A Majesty of Sound

That’s a name for a sermon

I’d have to do it though

The northern boys
Wouldn’t shout it loud enough

They’d make you lean in

Me?

I want you to lean back

I want to throw my noise at you
And have it blow you right back
Up to Heaven