Fermata 1 Jul 2022: Roe V. Wade & Bologna Sandwiches

Music as a Rest Practice, The Historic Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill, MA

Fermata is the weekly newsletter of Notes of Rest, my contemplative-musical retreat. (I also sometimes include updates about The JuJu Exchange, my jazz-electronic fusion band.)

Upcoming Appearances:

• July 1-2, 8p-midnight central, Jazz Show at the Green Mill with Isaiah Collier & The Chosen Few

• July 5, 5.30-8p central, Jazz Show at Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago with The Jeremiah Review in a Tribute to Charles Mingus

• July 10, 10a central, Notes of Rest at The Practice Church, South Barrington, IL

Hi everyone,

This week was bittersweet for me. It was bitter because of the fallout from Roe v. Wade is painful. No matter whether you’re celebrating or mourning the Supreme Court decision, it is incontrovertible that Dobbs now further jeopardizes the well-being of marginalized people groups, particularly pregnant Black folk and poor pregnant folk. Because Black women mortality rates are three times higher than White women’s, overturning abortion will put more women at health risks. Moreover, poor pregnant folk will be criminalized one way or the other, either for having children that they can’t afford to raise in our economy, or for seeking abortions in ways that endanger their lives. An enduring question in all of this political and social strife is: what does life look like amidst so much death?

One answer to that question is rest, for ourselves and others. Pausing from ongoing conflict (e.g., social media wars) allows us space to check in with ourselves and with God, to remember that the death of this world is not all there is.

A means of moving towards the rest that God has intended us for is to sit with music that calms and inspires. When you’re stressed, turning to music can help you and your people get through challenges just like before. For me, one of those places is instrumental jazz involving piano (shocking, I know). Listening to Miles Davis’ Second Quintet (Herbie Hancock was the pianist), Robert Glasper’s Of Dreams to Come or Ambrose Akinmusire’s Henya takes me to that deep place of wonder and awe about beauty that I can’t describe. These sounds put me in the posture that attunes me to God’s ongoing life-giving presence in this world that is being remade, no matter the pain and evil of the world around me that is decaying.

I suspect this is why the Negro spirituals arose to such prominence during and after chattel slavery in the US. As James Cone insightfully points out in The Spirituals and The Blues, the songs helped the folk get through. The songs gave my enslaved ancestors peace that surpassed understanding. That peace is what I was trying to tap into with the renditions I recorded my project Rest Assured: I Will Trust in The Lord/Oh Freedom and Give Me Jesus. What songs give you peace that surpasses understanding in times of trouble? (Answer directly here on this thread if you’d like!)

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But the sweet part of this week was the Notes of Rest session that took place last Sunday at Calvary Baptist Church in Haverhill, MA, led by Pastor Kenneth Young. This session was special for several reasons: it was my first Notes of Rest retreat outside, it was my first time in-person with a historic Black congregation (more than 150 years old), and it was at the church of my auntie and uncle (pictured in the middle photo on either side of me as I played).

We sat in Exodus 20:8-11 and reflected on how creativity and rest go hand in hand. Seeing these Black folk from elders to itty bitties rest underneath the trees was a gift. I was excited to talk about creativity and rest with Calvary because this intergenerational community was emerging from the pandemic and wanted to implement new strategies for ministry to their community. It was dope to celebrate the fact that The God whose image we bear both created and rested, and that the two fed off each other!

The stories that people shared were powerful, I’m glad it was recorded. (You can watch the whole session here.) One story that stood out to me was about a bologna sandwich. An elder in the church talked about how her ancestors would work out in the fields all day and then would take a break and eat a bologna sandwich while praising God in song. Then they would get back to work. That legacy of bologna and praise songs fueled her today, and it’s part of the legacy that she gives to her children.

I was encouraged by this story of the mundane because it reminded me that simple rest can have lasting impact. Not only did the sandwiches and singing sustain the ancestors, but now all of us on this Substack list can find sustenance in this Usher’s story. Her account showed me a 3-D reality of an otherwise 2-D history. So often I can think of Black field workers as being exposed only to harm and drudgery. But that flat view of us further dehumanizes us. No, as Exodus shows, being in the Image of God means that rest and creativity are always available to us, in some way, shape or form. Our challenge is to help people in and beyond the church see the need to join rest and creativity.

What is rest enabling you to create in this season? I’d love to hear what!

If you think these insights would bless someone else, please share!

abundantly,

Julian