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Though you’ve always liked to sing, Charles Albert Tindley’s
entire life was a song.
It started as a sad song, when he was born in Maryland
nearly 170 years ago: his father was a slave and his mother
was a free woman. The law said that Charles was free like
his mother and so, when she died and because his father had
no rights, the boy suddenly had no parents! His aunt took
him in and sent him to work on nearby farms.
The work was hard but singing gave Charles something to
think about. He first learned “chants in the field” and then
he heard spirituals sung between the crops. This inspired
him to want to learn and so, by the light of an oil lamp and
fire in the hearth, he taught himself to read the newspaper
and then, a Bible.
Young Charles was inspired! Soon, he started looking for a
church to attend and when he found one, he went – and even
though he had no shoes, the preacher there welcomed him and
let him testify before the congregation. Charles promised
himself that nothing would ever come between him and God,
ever.
As he grew with God, Charles Albert Tindley became Reverend
Tindley, who had a wife and a church and a congregation all
his own. His church helped people during the Great
Depression. They had an orchestra. And every Sunday, the
songs that Reverend Tindley wrote were lifted up to God –
just as they are now, this week, perhaps, in your own
church…
If your household is like most, music surrounds your child
from a variety of sources: oldies, new artists, classics,
and hymns. Some come from what may be a surprising source,
and By and By tells the tale.
And yet, use caution when introducing this story to your
kids: for the smallest reader, the story of “The Father of
Gospel Music” might need a bit more explaining. Author
Carole Boston Weatherford’s poem-biography tells a lot but
perhaps not enough so that preschoolers will easily
understand, particularly in its significance. Parents and
grandparents will find notes at the end of the book to be of
further help – or, alternately, you can let the lush artwork
from Bryan Collier teach your child everything he needs to
know for now about this inspiring tale.
The four-to-eight-year-old child who loves to sing, who
loves to dance, and who loves her church will want you to
read this book. By and By could become her favorite
thing. |
