Jennifer Keane-Dawes, Contributor
ME DEAR mam, when me was a lilly pickney, me granny always hab a wud fe holler out to wi seh stop it! There is power in de name of Jesus! Cause me dear mam, a nuh lilly bit a bawl wi use to bawl out Him name when wi step right eena de heap a coal stove ashes an tink we did outy good. When smady talk up inna dem nose hole inna de darkness an wi really neva expect it. When wi fren a run race an look like him nuh realise seh nubaddy nuh deh backa him. When wi a get beaten an wi holler fe smady come witness how a dis de lilly corpse a wi a go lef. Or when joke sweet wi an wi fegat seh
we a nuh big smady. Yu get me? Cause dem deh time deh, although we hear ova an ova seh thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
For the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain. Weh wi did bisniss wid dat? Cause fuss ting, how Him did suppose fe tan way up a sky an hear wi? What a way Him woulda good! Plus, a which one a wi did really know weh 'guiltless' mean? When dem deh breed a wud, plus other Bible wud like "Re-ho-bo'am went to She'chem;" an "A-ha-zi-ah the son of Je-ho'ram" was wud dat always cause wi granny fe pinch wi mek wi almost bawl out?
Cause wid har big finga an har fuss finga still fasten on to wi foot calf like pliaz, she did waan know, under har breath, which part dis ya liss tongue an dark yeye come fram all on a sudden. As parson call wi fe read one verse a scripture to de whole chuch.
Suh as me seh, wi use to holler out Pupa Jeezas name widout thinking of de consequences. Well my dear lady, de other day me a drive pon dis foreign road an a wait pon de light fe change at dis big intersection. When all on a sudden, a pick up truck, a bolt pon one speed from de lef han side, decide fe run de red light. Right fe go collide head on wid a tractor trailer a come from de opposite direction.
An as me coulda sight de accident a come an holler out "Lawd Jeezas!" Me dis si de pick up truck dis shet right off an bruck dung same place inna de middle road. Face to face wid de tractor trailer. Couple more inches, an dat trimblin pick up driver would have been a dead man. Well, people converge pon de scene, mek him know how him lucky, an help him push de van oneside.
While de tractor trailer man shake him head an drive weh. Well my dear lady, at dat deh time, me couldn't help but memba how me granny use to seh "There's power in the name Jesus."
Well missis, pon dis Easter Sunday mawning, as me granny always seh, de said power weh mek Pupa Jeesaz git up outta da grave, a de said power weh mek Him hab a miracle working name. Cause when yu think of it, yu eva fine yuself inna any Red Sea situation yet-weh yu can neither go nor come? But when yu call pon de name Jesus, a way dis huppen, yu crass ova, an yu don't know how? Missis ma, yu believe a lilly bit a smady weh hab rent fe pay.
Neva know which part de fuss cent a come from. But after dem call pon de name of Jesus, de rent money find an dem still cyaan tell yu how? Yu believe a lilly bit a smady das pray gad fe mek dem stop fass inna people bisniss, an dem stop? To everybaddy surprise? Suh me dear mam, if wi believe seh Pupa Jeezas git up wid all power dis Easter Sunday mawning, an dat we hab de said power fe help weself, if wi call an believe pon Him name, den wah mek wi shoulda a walk roun an a fret? Like weh Satan glad fe si wi fe do?
My dear lady, when yu tek it an look pon it, de smady weh believe inna Pupa Jeezas, but still a lib a defeated life, is dis like de smady weh buy a car an park it up under dem mango tree. But because dem won't learn how fe drive it, everytime dem fe go nuh weh, a dem dat. Begin fret an cuss every gad fisaken pick packet an dem wutliss muma, pupa an bredda who won't gi people a break pon government bus.
Happy Easter!
Dr. Jennifer Keane-Dawes is a communications professor and a talk show host in the University of North Carolina system.
