her, and longed for the power to cut his father down.”(197) John has sinned many times, when he’s felt this way towards his father. To be saved John must forgive, and then cleanse himself of his sins. He must learn to hate the sin and not the sinner if he wants to be saved. But this was not going to be easy, its one thing to know it but he had to embrace it and live it. Through John’s journey he saw many people trying to get to the river, which I believed represented the place where one will be baptized and reborn. John described the scene as, “All struggled to get to the river, in a dreadful hardness of heart: the strong struck down the weak, the ragged spat on the naked, the naked cursed the blind, the blind crawled over the lame. And someone cried: Sinner, do you love my Lord?”(203-204) John had walked many miles to the river and came face to face with many demons and sins, and atoned for them. Baldwin described it so poetically. “For his drifting soul was anchored in the love of God; in the rock that endured forever. The light and the darkness had kissed each other, and were married now, forever, in the life and the vision of John’s soul.”(204)He then heard the voice of Elisha, telling him to come through. He heard the singing of the congregation. Elisha said, “Rise up, rise up, Brother Johnny, and talk about the Lord’s deliverance”(205) John has been saved and exaltedly claimed, “Lord, I been introduced to the Father, and the Son, and I ain’t no stranger now!”(206) John’s quest to be closer to God was phenomenal. I too have had a rocky relationship with my father and like John has had to fight the demons caused by that relationship and atoned for them. It is very important to practice forgiveness. I believe that John has ...
