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African American pastor and civil rights leader, the former Dean of Boston University Chapel, Howard Thurman, recounts a profound encounter with Mahatma Gandhi in his memoir 'With Head and Heart. “Following a meaningful conversation, Gandhi made a special request of Thurman: 'Will you do me a favor? Will you sing one of your songs, 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord,' for me? I feel that this song captures the essence of the human experience under the sheltering wings of suffering.'"
Reflecting on the hymn "Were You There," I recall my former professor James Cone, during a Liberation Theology class at Emory University in 1989. He remarked, "During my childhood, we sang about 'Calvary' and asked, 'Were you there?' 'Down at the cross,' 'when they crucified my Lord.' For African Americans, remembering the cross was a way to claim a Christ who understood their suffering and stood in solidarity with their oppression. Black Christians believed that knowing Jesus experienced suffering similar to theirs gave them faith that God was with them, even in the face of lynching trees, just as God was present with Jesus on the cross."
"Were You There" stands as one of the most prominent and cherished African American spirituals. Yet, like many spirituals, its origins are untraceable, emerging from the collective experience of slavery because it came from the hearts of those enslaved, deprived of freedoms and hopes we often take for granted today. They felt a profound connection to the crucified Christ, looking back to Calvary and forward to their own struggles.
As we journey through Lent, I am moved by one line of the hymn: "Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble." We tremble at the horror of Jesus' execution, the anguish of his mother, the grief of his friends, and the pain of witnesses to state-sanctioned violence against the healer, teacher, and savior. We also tremble at the suffering of God's other children: those condemned, harmed, and abused by those in power, including the poor, unemployed, and marginalized who struggle for human dignity.
Today, God asks us all, "Were you there?" Were you there when my children crossed borders at risk of their lives, faced discrimination based on race, sexual orientation, or poverty? Were you there to defend, heal, comfort them, and prevent injustice? Were you there, speaking out for those whose dignity is threatened? Sometimes I was. Other times I wasn’t. Oh, Lord, have mercy on me!
Pastor Seok-Hwan
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