Can You Walk With a Book on Your Head?

I grew up as a GenX kid in the early 80’s who ran the streets in my small suburban community without a care in the world. Our moms would shoo everyone out of the house in the early mornings, giving a warning not to run in and out all day. We rode our bikes, drank out of backyard water hoses, and ate cheap candy by the pound. Then, I made it home by the time the streetlights came on. Barely. Those were great years!

Frankly, I thought those times would last forever. Then, I turned 12 years old. That was the summer when my paternal grandma, Mama (pronounced Maw-Maw), declared that I slouched too much, and she was going to change that.

Mama was a light-skinned, older Southern Black woman who didn’t tell us what year she was born until a few years before her passing in 2016 at 92 years old. Mama also carried a lifelong disappointment: Her height. At 5’9″, Mama lamented her height regularly. Growing up in the Jim Crow South, Mama’s race made life difficult, but her height made her feel like a target. As far as Mama was concerned, it was tragic that I inherited her height.

Thanks to a dramatic growth spurt, I’d become one of the tallest kids in my elementary school. Add in my thick-lensed glasses, large front teeth, and attending a school with only a few African-American students, and there was a lot about me for kids to tease.

It’s no surprise my slouch reflected my self-esteem.

Mama noticed. She determined she wouldn’t allow her long-legged granddaughter to try to hide. While my young male cousins were popping wheelies and playing pickup basketball, I spent my summer inside with a book. Not to read. But sitting on top of my head. Mama’s declaration: “Barbara, it’s time for you to learn how to stand tall.”

That summer, I walked back and forth across her living room carpet with a book settled on top of my head. At first, the book slid off often because I wasn’t aware of how much slouching impacted my posture. Using her refined, slow Southern voice, Mama said repeatedly, “Barbara, straighten your back. Lift your head.”

It took a few days, but I figured out how to do what Mama asked. Then, it was fun to see how many times I could walk up and back with the book on my head. My grandmother knew that standing tall would help me hold onto my dignity in a world where I wouldn’t always be judged by the content of my character but instead by the color of my skin.

Mama’s instructive words spoke freedom into my life. As my head lifted, my view of myself shifted, and my hope for the future increased. While I never had a close relationship with Mama, her words and presence that summer became the gift of a lifetime.

There’s nothing more precious than speaking hope and freedom into the lives of others. Speaking words like, “You can do this,” or “God loves you” to those with their heads hanging low is speaking freedom instead of reinforcing fear. Our life-giving words are a free gift we can lavishly give to others.

In Galatians, Paul the Apostle writes to believers, encouraging them to disregard the threatening voices that sought to keep them from living fully free and alive in Christ. Paul wrote the following proclamation, and his words would have radically changed the mindset of those who’d never heard these freeing words before:

“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26-28 NLT

The gospel of God’s grace brings freedom to all who hear it and receive it for themselves. Do you see how Paul casts a vision for how Jesus brings unity within our vast diversity of life experiences, backgrounds, race, and culture? It’s terrific that you and I have the privilege of sharing that freedom with others.

Speaking of freedom… On this day, 160 years ago, the last American slaves were notified of their freedom. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation about 900 days before, but it took a special messenger to bring the news to those enslaved people that they were free. While modern debates roar on both sides about President Lincoln’s motives and the politics of slavery, Juneteenth is a day we celebrate in memory of our commitment to freedom for all.

Freedom means so much more when we enjoy it together. God wants to use you to bring good news. Who can you speak words of hope and freedom to today?