Looking Back in Wonder
How I got over how I got over
How I got over how I got over
My soul look back and wonder how I got over
How I got over how I got over
How I got over how I got over
My soul look back and wonder how I got over
Just as soon as I see Jesus oh yes
The man who made me free oh yes oh yes
He was the man that bleed and suffer oh yes oh yes oh yes
Who died for you and me oh yes
I wanna thank him
Because he brought me oh yes
Because he taught me oh yes oh yes
I wanna thank god because he kept me oh yes oh yes oh yes
Cause he left me oh yes
I wanna sing hallelujah
I might shout this evening trouble over
I’m gonna thank Jesus for all he’s done for me
“How I Got Over”
By Clara Ward, 1951
This song has a special meaning for me. It’s been covered by many artists over the decades and each has it’s own signature. Aretha Franklin’s and Vickie Winan’s versions are so upbeat that it would be hard to keep your head from rocking from side to side. But Clara Ward’s original version brings the emotion that truly touches the soul.
In a book about their lives as gospel singers, the Ward sisters revealed the inspiration for the song. They were traveling to Atlanta to perform and were accosted by a group of white men who proceeded to terrorize a carload of women. It seems the men objected to their riding in a Cadillac. The go on to tell how they found their out of such a situation: one of the sisters pretended to be possessed at which the racists fled from them.
In my wildest dreams I could never imagine being a woman faced with a situation where I’m fearful of rape or death merely because of my skin color or the vehicle I’m riding in. Still, I’ve had days, as I’m sure others have, where I sit in my rare instances of solitude and wonder how I got over. There have been periods of unemployment and under-employment, the premature birth of my sons, and the passings of my mother-in-law and father. Let’s not even talk about the years of graduate school!
In these, and so many other moments, I sometimes thought I that I was at the end of my proverbial rope. I remember thinking that there just wasn’t a way out, not this time. But it was in those times that I heard my father’s voice encouraging me to keep moving. He would tell me that if I took one step the Lord would take two.
Well, I’m still here, scars and all. Even though this song still brings me to my knees, I really don’t wonder how I made it through those days of trouble. I know who brought me over and I thank Him every day because He didn’t have to.
Later.