Absalom Jones by Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones

Author:Mark Francisco Bozzuti-Jones
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Church Publishing Incorporated
Published: 2021-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

4 A Family Torn Apart

At a young age, Absalom Jones learned the importance of saving money and also giving an offering in the church, even though his family didn’t have much money. When the slave master sent him to the market to do shopping, Absalom always accounted for the money and returned the change. Many times, the master told Absalom to keep the change because he had been so honest. Absalom saved the money and was able to buy a spelling book, a prayer book, and a Bible of his own. He treasured and read them all his life.

Because he worked in the house, Absalom had more opportunity to read the Bible as well as some other books that belonged to the slave owner. By his thirteenth birthday, Absalom had read the Bible three times and had practically memorized the hymnal and prayer book. He also learned to add, subtract, and keep track of money. In other words, he taught himself accounting.

All the white visitors to the house commented on how thoughtful, earnest, and intelligent he was. But even though the master appeared to favor him, Absalom was nothing but property to his owner. Shortly after Absalom’s sixteenth birthday, his master sold him, his sister, his five brothers, and his mother to a neighboring plantation owner.

The new owner kept the gifted Absalom to work for him and resold the rest of the family. On the day they were separated from each other, they hugged and cried because they knew they would never see one another again.

His mother sang a song of eternal hope:

Sometimes I feel discouraged/ And think my work’s in vain/ But then the Holy Spirit/ Revives my soul again. / If you can preach like Peter/ If you can pray like Paul/ Go home and tell your loved ones/ He died to save us all.

Absalom hugged his family and blessed them. He wept and told them he loved them, reminding them that God would be in them and that they should go in peace through their troubles.

His mother said, “There’s a balm in Gilead. Don’t forget what is good, true, and beautiful. Don’t forget that your name means ‘father of peace.’ The peace of the Lord be always with you.”

Together they responded, “And with your spirit.”

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.