[/caption]Carol Forsloff - This week was the anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war. While there remains tension among regions of the country on states' rights, most Americans trust in a United States and a perfect union. It was slavery that brought the North and South to the bloodiest battle on American soil, as brothers fought against brothers in a controversy over the right to own slaves, something African Americans, and the rest of us, memorialize in gospel songs.
No more was that gospel sound made more wonderful than by Mahalia Jackson. Today audiophiles embrace the range of her majestic voice and seek to exhibit it through manipulating old phonographs onto Internet sites where we can all enjoy this great lady's songs.
"Trouble of the World" is one of those great gospel songs that speaks as much as anyone can of the tragedies and faith that brought the tensions to war and the reconciliation of faith that helped heal the people in the decades that followed. It was made especially memorable in the film "Imitation of Life" that starred Lana Turner and Sandra Dee, that poignantly described the grief caused by racial problems and stereotypes.
America continues to struggle through changes and divisions in the political process. That "trouble of the world" reflected by war and by gospel songs that speak of human suffering is something to ponder as the country continues to struggle with problems caused by race. Those problems, when denied, cannot be solved without acknowledging the trouble that once happened when allowed to fester long. Racial disagreements and denials brought the country once to war, so that a gospel song that reminds us of the "trouble of the world" that matters might serve as a reminder to a nation that continues to struggle with the remnants of its past.
Trouble of the World by Mahalia Jackson
