By Dr. Jacquelyn Simmons
Scripture: When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Matthew 16:13-19).
Every night after going to sleep, God let me envision myself standing in front of the church congregation and pulpit reciting the systems of the body. Due to the fact that I had been reared in church, because my grandfather, Rev. Dr. William Warner Hill, founder of Triumph Baptist Church, before a thirty-three year stint as pastor of Zion Traveler Baptist Church located here in Monroe, LA, I certainly could not imagine myself standing near God’s pulpit not speaking God’s word but reciting, of all things, the systems of our bodies. I thought EVERYTHING in God’s house has to refer to biblical teachings. In order to do so, they had to be emitted from our God –created bodies, but NOT IN HIS CHURCHES!!! How frightening.
Surely, a bolt of lightning or something would occur while I was trying to do so and strike me down in front of the congregation and pastor, also. Sinful! Ludicrous! Besides, what would “Papa” say had he still been alive? After all, women were not allowed in pulpits in the Baptist Church except to clean them and serve the needs of the preachers such as water, Kleenex, fans, etc., and they were given from the choir loft. After all, pulpits were sacred and designed only for the use of male pastors and other ministers. Oh, I was sincerely puzzled.
During that time, I accompanied the choir by playing the organ and Donald Burge, now deceased, played the piano directly across from me.
One Sunday, ohhhh the audience was clapping and swaying, the choir was singing, Donald was vigorously playing the piano and I was playing the organ with all I thought I had. Suddenly, my everything froze and I found myself saying, “YES LORD, YES LORD…” “Will you unfreeze me, please?” When He did, I hurriedly left the organ and went to the hall of the church and afterward the kitchen, and kept saying, “YES LORD, YES LORD…”
