According to Hughess description , what is arevival meeting like? What is the effect of thepreaching, singing, praying and shouting on thesinners and the young lambs?Salvation by Langston Hughes1 I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen. But not really saved. It happened like this. There was a big revival at my Auntie Reeds church. Every night for weeks there had been much preaching, singing, praying, and shouting, and some very hardened sinners had been brought to Christ, and the membership of the church had grown by leaps and bounds. Then just before the revival ended, they held a special meeting for children, to bring the young lambs to the fold. My aunt spoke of it for days ahead. That night I was escorted to the front row and placed on the mourners bench with all the other young sinners, who had not yet been brought to Jesus.
2 My aunt told me that when you were saved you saw a light, and something happened to you inside! And Jesus came into your life! And God was with you from then on! She said you could see and hear and feel Jesus in your soul. I believed her. I had heard a great many old people say the same thing and it seemed to me they ought to know. So I sat there calmly in the hot, crowded church, waiting for Jesus to come to me.
3 The preacher preached a wonderful rhythmical sermon, all moans and shouts and lonely cries and dire pictures of hell, and then he sang a song about the ninety and nine safe in the fold, but one little lamb was left out in the cold. Then he said: Wont you come? Wont you come to Jesus? Young lambs, wont you come? And he held out his arms to all us young sinners there on the mourners bench. And the little girls cried. And some of them jumped up and went to Jesus right away. But most of us just sat there.
4 A great many old people came and knelt around us and prayed, old women with jet-black faces and braided hair, old men with work-gnarled hands. And the church sang a song about the lower lights are burning, some poor sinners to be saved. And the whole building rocked with prayer and song.
5 Still I kept waiting to see Jesus.
6 Finally all the young people had gone to the altar and were saved, but one boy and me. He was a rounders son named Westley. Westley and I were surrounded by sisters and deacons praying. It was very hot in the church, and getting late now. Finally Westley said to me in a whisper: God damn! Im tired o sitting here. Lets get up and be saved. So he got up and was saved.
7 Then I was left all alone on the mourners bench. My aunt came and knelt at my knees and cried, while prayers and song swirled all around me in the little church. The whole congregation prayed for me alone, in a mighty wail of moans and voices. And I kept waiting serenely for Jesus, waiting, waiting but he didnt come. I wanted to see him, but nothing happened to me. Nothing! I wanted something to happen to me, but nothing happened.
8 I heard the songs and the minister saying: Why dont you come? My dear child, why dont you come to Jesus? Jesus is waiting for you. He wants you. Why dont you come? Sister Reed, what is this childs name?
9 Langston, my aunt sobbed.
10 Langston, why dont you come? Why dont you come and be saved? Oh, Lamb of God! Why dont you come?
11 Now it was really getting late. I began to be ashamed of myself, holding everything up so long. I began to wonder what God thought about Westley, who certainly hadnt seen Jesus either, but who was now sitting proudly on the platform, swinging his knickerbockered legs and grinning down at me, surrounded by deacons and old women on their knees praying. God had not struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple. So I decided that maybe to save further trouble, Id better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get up and be saved.
12 So I got up.
13 Suddenly the whole room broke into a sea of shouting, as they saw me rise. Waves of rejoicing swept the place. Women leaped in the air. My aunt threw her arms around me. The minister took me by the hand and led me to the platform.
14 When things quieted down, in a hushed silence, punctuated by a few ecstatic Amens, all the new young lambs were blessed in the name of God. Then joyous singing filled the room.
15 That night, for the first time in my life but one for I was a big boy twelve years old I cried. I cried, in bed alone, and couldnt stop. I buried my head under the quilts, but my aunt heard me. She woke up and told my uncle I was crying because the Holy Ghost had come into my life, and because I had seen Jesus. But I was really crying because I couldnt bear to tell her that I had lied, that I had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadnt seen Jesus, and that now I didnt believe there was a Jesus anymore, since he didnt come to help me.Questions on the Reading: Read the following questions and respond in complete sentences. Use details from the story and clear explanations to support your responses.1. According to Hughess description , what is a
revival meeting like? What is the effect of the
preaching, singing, praying and shouting on the
sinners and the young lambs?2. Why does Westley see Jesus? Why does
Langston Hughes come to Jesus?3. How does the author feel after his salvation? Does
Hughes finally believe in Christ after his
experience? How do you know?4. What is your opinion of the last paragraph, the
conclusion of this selection? What does it suggest
about them mind of a twelve-year-old boy? What
does it say about the adults misunderstanding of
the activities of children?5. Do you find the religious experience in Hughess
essay unusual or extreme? Explain why or why not.6. In your opinion, is Hughess loss of faith in Jesus
justified based on his experiences? Support your
response.7. What do you thing upset Hughes more, the fact that
he didnt see Jesus appear or the fact that the adults
were willing to accept the lie he told about seeing
Christ? Explain/Support your response.8. Under what circumstance might a person lie in
order to satisfy others? Try to recall a specific
incident in which you or someone you know was
pressured to lie in order to please others.