6 - After the Fury

Summary

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.”

Christian Bible, KJV, Gospel According to Luke, 4:17–18

“He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He who loveth his brother abideth in the light and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness and walketh in darkness … because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.”

Christian Bible, KJV, First Epistle of John, 2:9–11.

“Strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Beware of false prophets that come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits.”

Christian Bible, KJV, Gospel According to St. Matthew, 7:13–16.

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On the third Sunday after Easter in 1899 about forty miles southwest of Atlanta in Newnan, Georgia, a white crowd burned to death a fugitive black laborer known as Sam Hose. This atrocity blended anger, hatred, arrogance, festivity, brutality and satisfaction into a mood just beyond comprehension. “Glory!” shouted an excited man enraptured by the intensity of the moment, “Glory be to God!!”