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Them that’s got shall have
Them that’s not shall lose
So the Bible says and it still is news
Mama may have, Papa may have
But God bless the child that’s got his own, that’s got his own.
These lyrics express how Billie Holiday made God’s gift of wisdom her own. She turned “God Bless the Child” into an eternally viral hit. Its words were inspired by an argument this jazz great had with her mother about money. Rather than turning her away from religion, Holiday’s tough childhood eventually guided her toward faith. The Catholic faith.
According to an article in Fordham University’s “FordhamNOW” magazine, Holiday received her only formal vocal instruction at the “Baltimore House of the Good Shepherd for Colored Girls,” the Catholic convent where she was sent to live as a child. She carried the wisdom that came with this education with her for the rest of her life.
In this Sunday’s readings the gift of wisdom is intertwined with the gift of mercy as God lets us hear his words in ways we can understand and make our own, as Billie Holiday did.
The first reading from Isaiah (is 55:10-11) says as much:
“My word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”
God won’t let us waste His breath, and in His mercy He sent prophets who could help us interpret His law of love using a language native to each one of us. In Sunday’s second reading Paul explains to the Romans (rom 8:18-23) this mission of mercy and how it saves us from losing hope for salvation while we endure our daily sufferings:
“I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God.”
Chief among those children was God’s Son himself, who revealed the word of God through parables—stories that used the culture and mores of that time and place so people could make God’s law their own. Jesus knew that these people weren’t “getting it,” and in his mercy he manipulated their own native wisdom so the truth would be revealed and they would hunger for more.
That’s the nature of wisdom, and the reason crowds formed around Jesus as his earthly mission continued. His explanation from Sunday’s gospel reading about why he preached in parables (mt 13:1-23) is a powerful commentary on God’s mercy and our salvation. He’s saving some from losing what little wisdom their lives may inspire, and he’s warning others who turn away from those hard lessons. Here’s the passage that worked on Holiday:
“To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because they look but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.”
Billie Holiday’s faith made her rich in a wisdom that saved her so she could share it with audiences through her own musical parables. That same Holy Spirit can help each of us go viral with our own salvation stories, custom-designing them as a jazz artist might for each listener to make their own. And may God bless that child.
–Tom Andel