The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

She hummed the tune as her hoe worked the hard red clay.  The bosom of Abraham. The best place to be. In her nine years at Momma’s knee, she’d heard lots of Bible stories. This was her favorite. No matter what the boss man demanded, Father Abraham wrapped his arms around that little beggar and kept him safe. No troubles could touch him anymore. Nothing but love. She wondered what color was Lazarus’ skin. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

She hummed the tune. Her insides hurt so bad. The little brother who had kept her warm for so many nights, his space was cold tonight. He was too light-skinned. They had sold him away this morning. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .”

Daddy said that old Jeb had died. He was too feeble to pick cotton.  He fell. The overseer beat him to get up. The old man couldn’t.  Daddy had shouted out, “That’s not right!” After she heard him tell it, Momma and Daddy were silent. She could feel the trouble in the room. As the sun went down, Daddy kissed her and said, “I love  you, darlin.” They knew. He would not be there in the morning. She hummed through her tears. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

Momma went to work at the main house. She said, “Keep your  head down, girl!” The master’s twenty-year-old son was lookin’ . . .  taking a shine to her, now that she was almost twelve. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

Momma told how she’d heard the men talking after church about  Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus. The master had leaned  back in his leather chair with his cigar and said, “I don’t really  understand.” 

She and Momma held each other, just the two of them now, and  sang softly. 

“Rock-a my soul in the bosom of Abraham . . .” 

Consider/Discuss 

• When life is full of trouble, the bosom of Abraham is the best place to be,  wrapped in love for all eternality. Look at history. How does the promise of heaven get us through dark earthly times? 
• The prophet Amos warns about the complacency of the rich. The psalmist  says that the Lord secures justice for the oppressed. You and I will be held accountable for what we do in this life. What is one thing that Father Abraham would want you to do today to make this world a more just place? 

Living and Praying with the Word 

Lord, open our eyes to see what we do not see. Open our hearts to do what we can do. You know the troubles that we have. You know the troubles that surround us. You are the Savior of the world.  We are not. We cannot save everyone or everything, but show us our part. Show each of us the role that we have to play in bringing about your kingdom. And please, Holy Spirit, come, come to heal  the divisions of this world. We are broken. We break others. We are hurting. We hurt others. We are in need of your justice. Come, Holy  Spirit, come.