“LET ALL BITTERNESS, WRATH, ANGER…BE PUT AWAY FROM YOU…AND BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, EVEN AS GOD IN CHRIST FORGAVE YOU.” —EPHESIANS 4:31-32
The Delany sisters, Bessie and Sadie, each lived over one hundred years, leaving behind a legacy of grace and wisdom that touched my heart.
In The Delany Sisters’ Book of Everyday Wisdom, they wrote about their beloved “Papa,” a former slave, who was elected the first black bishop of the Episcopal Church of America. In 1918, he was asked to be a guest preacher at a church in Raleigh, Virginia. His family considered the invitation a great honor, so all ten children and his wife attended. Even though Papa was the guest of honor, his family was sent to the back balcony.
Bessie recalls, “They made us sit where the slaves had been made to sit, and then we were not given the privilege of Communion.”
When the story appeared in the sisters’ first book, they received a formal letter of apology from the congregation of that church. Bessie writes, “We were so touched that they apologized a full seventy-five years later. Now that’s God’s work.”
Seventy-five years! Decades over which bitterness could have hardened these women’s hearts. But something insulated them from such destructive emotions. Something motivated them to live free, productive lives, each following her passion.
“We set aside time every day to talk to the Lord,” Sadie wrote. “After all, He has to manage the whole world, and He’s never too busy for us!”
Bessie recalled, “When we walk into our house, whether we’re coming back from a long trip or just from seeing our neighbors, the first thing we say is, ‘Praise the Lord.’ We do that to thank Him for watching over us.”That story appears in their book under the heading, “We’re in His Hands.” These two black women could almost have been excused for resenting their circumstances. But Bessie and Sadie lived successfully and accomplished amazing things during their over a hundred years on earth, a remarkable example of forgiveness and living in grace and wisdom.
