This morning I received a link to this amazing video from my friend Kathy in Arizona (We were in sixth grade together, lost touch because my family moved a lot, and then rediscovered one another in the past couple years through Classmates.com. Yay!).
Anyhow, I was so moved by the amazing voice, and heart of love, of the speaker/singer, Mr. Wentley Phipps, and want to share this with you.
Did you know (I sure didn’t!) that ALL Negro spirituals are based on the pentatonic scale, the five black notes on the piano keyboard (The same five notes repeat over and over, from lower to higher.) And, the very famous “white” spiritual, Amazing Grace, is based on this “slave scale” as well.
Guess where John Newton heard this melody? From the poor Negro men and women he was transporting from their homes in Africa, to lives of slavery in other lands. But that’s not the end of the story, for John Newton was transformed by God’s grace, and learned to love those whom he once oppressed.
Please enjoy.
most beautiful rendition of this song i have ever heard