Those are the words I heard myself mumbling when I turned away from the COVID-19 punch only to be socked from the other side by the aftershock of police brutality to George Floyd. I realized i was singing under my breath a line from a Tennessee Ernie Ford song I learned as a kid.*

But the comfort I needed at that moment didn’t come from country western music; it came from black gospel music. At our February Black History Celebration, guest soloist Candace Lacy sang an inspiring song called “Stand.” We didn’t record her beautiful performance, but I was able to find a video recording in which it is sung by its author, Donnie McClurkin. You can listen to it here.

These are some of the song’s meaningful lyrics:
What do you do when you’ve done all you can
And it seems like it’s never enough?
And what do you say when your friends turn away
And you’re all alone, alone?
Tell me, what do you give when you’ve given your all
And it seems like you can’t make it through?

Well, you just stand when there’s nothing left to do.
You just stand, watch the Lord see you through.
After you’ve done all you can, you just stand.

Tell me, how do you handle the guilt of your past?
Tell me, how do you deal with the shame?
And how can you smile while your heart has been broken
And filled with pain, filled with pain?
Tell me what do you give when you’ve given your all
Seems like you can’t make it through?

Well, you just stand when there’s nothing left to do.
You just stand, watch the Lord see you through.
After you’ve done all you can, you just stand.

After you’ve prayed and cried, cried and prayed,
After you cried all through the night, all, all through the night;

You plant your feet, square your shoulders,
Hold your head up and wait on him.
He’s gonna come through, yes he will.
You’ve done all you can do, yeah.
After you’ve done all you can, you just stand.
You just stand.

The next time you face a two-fisted-coal-miner of a problem in life, do all you can, pray to the Lord, and STAND!

-Pastor George Van Alstine

* “Sixteen Tons,” recorded in 1946.