A Reverend Grandma

The first thing I ever remember doing in church was singing. And the first song I remember is, “Are You Washed in the Blood.” I remember sitting in a church pew in the little church where I was raised, (and my mother before me), with my mama and grandmama at a Decoration Day (homecoming) service. The preacher yelled and hollered and his face turned really red, and I thought he was going to jump over the altar rail! And I asked my mother, “Mama, why is he so mad?” I didn’t enjoy his message. But I did like the singing! “Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing pow’r...Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?” Being washed in blood didn’t even seem gross to me. The woman who played the piano had a tendency to bang on it a little too loud, and the man who led singing sometimes sang off key, but it didn’t matter to my little 3-year-old self. I loved singing with them, and I loved singing with everyone else. The brown paperback Favorite Songs and Hymns was well-worn, and the pages felt s...