Keeping Elijah Cummings' Hope Alive, Despite Our Grief: In Remembrance of Elijah - "This Little Light of Mine (Let It Shine)" :)

Once upon a time, during the Baltimore riots, Congressman Elijah Cummings got on a bullhorn, telling people this is not the way - then locked arms with his constituents singing "This Little Light of Mine (Let It Shine)" ... and succeeded in getting others to join in, nearly single-handedly quieting the riots.

Cummings was old school - he preferred to handle things Martin Luther King's way, the peaceful, civil-disobedience way ;)

FYI, Ignorant Deplorables, disparaging Elijah - Elijah was one of few Democrats from Congress to attend Trump's inauguration, in the interest of peace and unity, as well as a public demonstration of acceptance of America's decision and at least giving Trump a chance.

Unfortunately, Trump blew that chance Elijah gave him - several times over.

Particularly when he targeted Elijah a few months ago on Twitter, when they disagreed about upping congressional aid to Israel (already receiving the 3rd largest amount of funding, to become the 1st).

Trump tweeted Elijah was from a "rat infested" district and that he, and other members of congress of color, needed to "go back to where he (they) came from."


For those who don't know this Southern gospel hymn, there are 3 styles of it in the video below, and it is based on the bible verse Matthew 5:14-16:

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.

15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

Thus, after Trump trolls had taken over at the WaPo with their hate, disparaging Elijah even at death - I wrote the below comment.

The responses/replies that continue to come in since I made this screen shot, brought more tears to my eyes - but instead of tears of grief, now I cry tears of hope: )

Yes, his death is doubly hard-hitting, as it also horrible timing, as he was on the House oversight committee and instrumental in impeachment, as he was well respected as a man of integrity and considered fair, by both parties - but we cannot lose hope and get bogged down in fear of "What's gonna happen now?"   

Elijah wouldn't want us to - that is NOT the way Elijah lived his life.

Elijah would want us to keep going, twice as strong now, carrying on with his legacy.

In fact, what Elijah would want us to do instead is sing his beloved Southern Gospel song of hope together :)

So ... you can sing it the upscale Harvard a capella way ...

... or the Mississippi delta blues way, with a electric bass guitar ...

 



Or you can sing it my preferred way (Southern roots) and Elijah's way - the original way - starting out slow, with nothing but 1 soulful soloist and a piano, ending with a full-on Southern gospel choir, soulful voices, getting faster and faster singing in harmony.

Get on up, now - on your feet ... :)








... your style choice, doesn't matter - just keep letting that light shine - Just. Keep. Singing. LET. IT. SHINE! :)