"THE ROUGH AND RUTTED ROADS OF LIFE: LAYING DOWN THE BODY OF MURPHY DAVIS"

 “THE ROUGH AND RUTTED ROADS OF LIFE: LAYING DOWN THE BODY OF MURPHY DAVIS”

On Sunday, April 14, about 40 of us gathered at Jubilee Partners in the dining room of Jubilee Farms.  We arrived with a mixture of sadness and celebration in our hearts and minds.  We were there to lay to rest the remains of the body of Murphy Davis, whose ashes had resided in a special place at the Open Door in Baltimore, since her passing on October 22, 2020.

    We gathered at Jubilee because of its long history of serving humanity and because of its offering burial to all sorts of people – some have no other place to be buried; some, like Murphy, chose to be buried there.  The path from the dining hall to the cemetery is about half a mile, winding over rough and rutted trails and roads, and that terrain serves as metaphor for the ministry of Murphy Davis.  She chose the roads less traveled by.

Jubilee Partners was founded as a Christian service community in 1979 in rural Georgia, near Comer in Madison County.  Their primary work is to offer hospitality to immigrants who have experienced violence or persecution.  Jubilee has also served as a burial place for people executed on Georgia’s death row.  Almost all of the graves are dug by hand, using shovels, mattocks, and pickaxes. The ground in the cemetery— mostly packed clay and mud rock—is not easy to dig in, but there is meaning in the labor. 

On this day, we gathered to remember the astonishing life and witness of Murphy Davis, and we worshipped God together in order to find comfort and strength in the loss of Murphy.  We also worshipped together to find the fire of renewal, so that we too could continue to go out and proclaim the gospel of justice and mercy and peace in the rough and rutted roads of life, wherever we live.  The Reverend Nelia Kimbrough led us in the worship service, and we were blessed to have several outstanding speakers.  Elise Witt once again led us in singing in worship, and it was a powerful sound, echoing out into the world of woods, workers, and wanderers.  

    Joyce Hollyday had helped Murphy finally complete her first book “Surely Goodness and Mercy.”  Joyce spoke of Murphy’s being a powerful light, using Jesus’ metaphor from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5: “You are the light of the world….so let your light shine before all people.”  She deemed Murphy’s ministry to be an “incandescent incarnation,” and she gave thanks that Murphy did not hide her light under a bushel or in the maze of middle class life.  Murphy chose a different way to let her light shine – in solidarity with the poor, those on the streets and those in prison, especially those on death row. 

    Joyce also lifted up Murphy’s belief in the power of the Resurrection, not only for its meaning for life after death, but also for its meaning while we are living.  Murphy’s life and witness reminded us that we should not look at the Resurrection as a thing belonging to the past.  It is also an event that calls us into the future, as we too are resurrected from our many captivities to the principalities and powers of the fallen world.  Joyce read a paragraph from one of Murphy’s 1996 Hospitality columns that is featured in “Bag of Snakes:”

“A bittersweet truth about Resurrection is this: we are rarely given the privilege, or the luxury, of sitting in front of the empty tomb to bask in the glorious light of the Risen One.  “Run.” says the angel.  “Run and tell it!  Run with all your might, powered by the glorious truth of the vision!  Run with the exuberance and joy of your grief suddenly and unexpectedly healed!  Run, carrying this unbelievable news!  Run, knowing that nothing else in the world matters anymore!  The truth is the Truth that will overshadow everything else and set the course for all of life.  Run!!!”

Then it was time to take the cremains of Murphy Davis up to their resting place at the cemetery of Jubilee Partners.  Many of us who were able walked the half mile up to the cemetery, traversing the rough and rutted roads, while others were transported in a van.  It was a sunny day, and Elise Witt led us in singing as we walked, forming sort of a “second line” New Orleans style processional, with Ed leading the way.  We arrived and found the hole dug for Murphy, right next to Ralph Dukes’ grave.  Nelia led us once again in these closing moments, blessing Murphy’s life and ministry.

     Ed placed the urn with Murphy’s ashes in the burial spot.  His moans and groans resonated in all our hearts, as he laid her ashes to rest in the burial grounds, and as we sang “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.”  For a long moment, there was  silence, with only the melody of the birds to accompany our sorrow and our gratitude for a life well lived, a life that taught all of us how to be a servant of the Lord by serving humanity.  We all lingered a long while, not wanting to leave this spot, knowing that leaving this spot would bring a finality that we did not want to have, and yet that we must have.

    We returned to the Jubilee dining hall, where we broke bread together with a meal prepared by Mary Catherine Johnson and Jubilee Partners.  As Murphy would have wanted it, we told stories of Murphy’s life and witness, many laced with the humor that was another hallmark characteristic of her life.  As we all listened and shared, we had the stuff of recognition – our eyes and our hearts were opened, and we could all hear Murphy telling us: “Run and tell it!  Run, carrying this unbelievable news! Run!!!!