January 25, 2021 (Monday)
No doubt you recognize today’s “hymn” as a scene from the movie, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Like many songs from historical America, authors, composers, and dates of writing have been lost in a sea of spiritual songs.
The video accompanying this song brings back memories for me of a baptismal service at Prairie Point Baptist Church near Groesbeck, Texas in 1950. The pastor, Herb Zimmerman, baptized 19 people that day, and one of them was a 92-year-old lady. We were closing a revival meeting in an old fashioned tabernacle and she walked down the aisle to accept Christ as Savior. Later in my ministry I would have the joy of baptizing, as did Herb, in a stock tank. I later baptized a couple of times in rivers. In Rockport, once, I baptized a lady (Mary Reynolds) in Aransas Bay. (The church’s history includes many such baptisms long ago).
The words of the song invite us to pray, as we go down to the river. Jesus invites us all to pray anywhere, any time. I had been attending church only a few weeks when the pastor called on me to pray. I think of that incident as an initiation into public prayer, which is different in some ways from private prayer, in which we have considerable freedom to “tell it like it is” as we commune with the Lord.
As you think back about this day, did your activities include prayer?
DOWN TO THE RIVER AND PRAY
Words: American Folk Song
Music: Traditional
Date Unknown
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol’ way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way
O sisters, let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O sisters, let’s go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol’ way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way
O brothers, let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
Come on, brothers, let’s go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol’ way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way
O fathers, let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O fathers, let’s go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol’ way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way
O mothers, let’s go down
Come on down, don’t you wanna go down?
Come on, mothers, let’s go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol’ way
And who shall wear the starry crown
Good Lord, show me the way
O sinners, let’s go down
Let’s go down, come on down
O sinners, let’s go down
Down in the river to pray
As I went down in the river to pray
Studying about that good ol’ way
And who shall wear the robe and crown
Good Lord, show me the way