The morning sun, hot already,
was starting to beat down.
The old cemetery road was dry and dusty.
There were patches and clusters of families:
women with their Sunday best on,
high collars, long dresses, straw hats.
Men with their Sunday-go-to-meetin’ clothes on.
Oh, this was a long time ago.
You might have heard about it, but today,
we're going to step back in time.
Some walked, others rode horseback,
there were a few scattered buggies.
Folks greeted, smiled, hugged stepped into
The old church.
There were lines of old pews.
The church was half full, already.
That old bell was rung by the preacher’s son.
Everyone picked up the step to be on time.
With that old down home flavor,
Someone started to sing an old hymn.
There plenty of foot stomping and
hand clapping to keep that beat.
The song seem to echo throughout
The old church.
The pastor stood, held up his hand
The church fell silent.
Holding that old white handkerchief in his hand,
wiping the corners of his mouth
he started to speak out
in the old gospel raspy voice.
"The Lawdddddd is my Shepherd,
I shall not want."
The amens chimed out vocally in the congregation.
Seems like every woman had a fan,
as she cooled herself in the southern delta heat.
Song after song,
cleansed the mind,
embraced the soul,
and distanced each one from
all the hard times:
Long hard hours in the fields,
Pains of trying to exist.
This was a place
of reverence, worship, and escape.
Today’s sermon was:
"We ain't gonn'a study war, no more."
Truly, fire and brimstone
rained down on his congregation.
His words brought about
a feeling so good
and so strong,
they just want to jump up
and shout, cry, just holler.
And, that they did,
that they did.
Most of the day was spent meeting,
talking, and sharing.
But, before they knew it,
it was getting late,
and all had to walk
the Old Cemetery Road,
back to hell.
You see, there were two ways out of hell.
Every Sunday,
that old dusty road led to the right
to that little white church, or
further down on the left,
The Cemetery.
If it wasn't for the Salvation of
that Old Cemetery Road,
a lot of us wouldn't be here today.
You know, with all the changes,
we're (in some ways)
still walking that old road.
Hope ya'll enjoyed the trip.
We gotta know where we’ve been,
before, we get to know
where we’re going.