#MonthOfMinistry Day 8
Imani, faith, can come like a spirit
Spirit come like walking on air.
Take a step and trust in the path and
Mother Imani meet you there.
This joyful song speaks to me of faith as that which sustains us when we step outside our safe zones of comfort. Sing along!
Imani, by Rachael A.K. Hazen.
I learned this through A Winter Solstice Singing Ritual by Julie Forest Middleton and Staṡa Morgan-Appel. “Imani” is an Arabic and Swahili word for “faith”, and it’s one of the important principles celebrated in the African-American Kwanzaa festival: https://www.officialkwanzaawebsite.org/imani.html.
You say faith is empty like beer can,
you say people do not believe,
go to bed with nothing to hope for;
Imani rock those people to sleep.
Chorus:
Imani, faith, can come like a spirit
Spirit come like walking on air.
Take a step and trust in the path and
Mother Imani meet you there.
You say physics guides all the planets;
Apple falling just dumb luck
'Cause while Newton slept through the night time
Imani made the sun come up.
One is for our faith in the music
Two is for our faith in the crowd
Three and four our faith in each other
That is how we sing out loud.
Faith alone will cary no woman
There is still much work to be done.
Though each day is painful and lonely
Give up thanks one more day has come.
Lover kiss me sweet in the morning,
Sister give me strength through the day
Mother rock me near all the night time
Chase me all my demons away.
Music comes when least I expect it,
Whispers taking shape and flight,
I keep still and wait for Imani,
Faith is everything I write.
Love was not what I beilved in,
Built that bridge and seen it fall,
But having one more day here beside you,
Faith has conquered after all.
Faith may take you over a bridge
You never meant to cross beyond,
But nothing worde than living not knowing
Which side of the river you on.
Photo: Jane Lewis