Sound of Hallelujahs

Sound of Hallelujahs

March 11, 2019 | Marcy Each


Melissa is beautiful. And brilliant. Strong and opinionated. She also happens to be black. And I am also strong and opinionated. And I happen to be white. When we first had a conversation at the door to our kids’ Sunday school class, I told her I didn’t think we could be friends because after just a short while of knowing her, I concluded my strong opinions and frank statements would surely offend her. She laughed and agreed that she would most likely be offended by me, and yet Melissa has become one of my closest friends.

I have to be honest, friendship with Melissa has changed me. It’s been a slow change, but a sure change. She has challenged me to be authentic, unafraid, and to let her see my weaknesses including my kitchen with dishes everywhere and living room so messy it’s like walking through landmines. She’s also challenged me to fast and pray together. And even though I’ve been a Christian and a pastor’s kid and pastor’s wife, I have never prayed and fasted with a friend before (apart from a church-led activity).

Our differences have come to the surface. She laughs that she has to pray with me in person instead of on the phone, because I’m completely silent while she prays, and that would be awkward on the phone. Evidently with some of her black friends, praying together is more like a conversation back and forth, weaving in and out of prayers as if Jesus were sitting right there with them in a room.

And yet she continues to leave her comfort zone and pray with me. She continues to be my friend. She continues to encourage, teach, and challenge me. Through friendship, through being and acting like sisters in Christ, I get to hear Melissa’s struggles first-hand. About marriage. About being a working mom. About her sin. I also get to hear how her kids have been called names, how some teachers have had lower expectations for her kids because of the color of their skin, and how her daughter has been made fun of because of her hair. Issues that I’ve known about, but have never been personal before.

But now it is personal. For example, I’ve never cared too much about Black History Month before or whether or not we have black leaders in our church. I’ve always thought diversity was a good thing, but I didn’t really understand how important it was and how much I would be willing to fight for it until I had friends I love and care about tell me what it means to them and their kids. I also see how much I personally need it for my own spiritual growth. And now, no matter what Melissa’s struggle is, it becomes my struggle. And my struggles become hers. And together we lay them down at the feet of the one who has drawn us together.

You see, friendship breaks down walls. Walls that have been built in this country by slavery and oppression. Walls of culture. Walls of misunderstanding. Walls of ignorant comments. Walls of prejudice. And Jesus broke down the biggest wall of all. The wall of sin. The wall that separated us from God. He is our example. His great love took him out of his perfect home and led him to suffering and death in order to break down the wall that separated us from Him.

We’re Jesus followers. We need to be wall-breakers. Melissa is a wall-breaker. And she has done that by simply being my friend.

This song I wrote with Keeyon Carter and recorded with our music team at Veritas is a dream we have for our church. That we would repent of the walls we’ve built. That we would love Jesus. And our love for Him would increase our love for others. And this love and friendship would cause us all to be wall-breakers just like our precious Lord was for us.


Marcy Each

Interim Worship Leader