Last month NPR's
All Things Considered did
a very nice story on the song
Ain't No Grave, written by Pentecostal preacher, Brother Claude Ely. I encourage you to listen to the story (it's about 13 minutes long).
His song is a classic because it is a heartfelt statement of faith in the resurrection. St. Paul wrote the church in Corinth that "if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied" (1 Cor. 15:17-19- ESV).
Our
traditio for this penitential day is Brother Tom Jones singing Brother Claude's classic:
This song was one of the last things recorded by the late, great
Johnny Cash.
