Sojourner Truth

(1797-1883)

Bible Passage (NRSVue): “And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:10)

Her Interpretation:  In her later years, Sojourner Truth worked to help freedmen by advocating for land grants during Reconstruction. She connected the imagery from the Book of Revelation to her hopes for the future. A news report from a Springfield Republican in 1871, included in her biography, Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Bondswoman of Olden Time, with a History of Her Labors and Correspondence Drawn from Her Book of Life, reflects her practical viewpoint: “Like the New Jerusalem, if I didn’t find the West all I had expected, I’d have a good time thinking about it.” This quote shows her approach to life. Truth envisioned the prairies of Kansas as a place where Black families could build their lives—not just a faraway paradise, but a real place to establish roots and independence. She combined the promise of “no more tears” from scripture with the unmet goals of Reconstruction, turning her hopes into action. For preachers and teachers, this viewpoint during Easter encourages people to view Revelation 21 as a call to create a just world now, instead of waiting for an apocalyptic event. By linking the New Jerusalem to hard work and struggle, she gives us a guiding principle: the brightest visions of faith, like spring plants, push through the soil to reach the light. (Sojourner Truth)

Dr. Shively’s Reflection: Sojourner Truth’s vision of a “New Jerusalem” in the American West was bold, complex, and filled with holy determination. When she said, “Like the New Jerusalem, if I don’t find the West all I expect, I’ll have a good time thinking about it,” she was referencing a Biblical story that white settlers had distorted to justify the theft of Indigenous lands, but she turned it on its head. For her, Kansas represented not a land taken from others, but a chance for Black families to finally own something in a country that had stolen their labor, lives, and even their children. Easter reminds us that God makes broken things new, and Truth’s vision resembled resurrection: she took America’s violent interpretation of a “promised land” into a vision of freedom. Her struggle parallels that of Lydia in Acts 16, who welcomed God’s work into her home, and the healed man in John 5, who picked up his mat and walked after years of being bound. Truth didn’t just wait for heaven; she organized, prayed, and demanded that Congress grant freedpeople land to farm. Like Jesus, who promises peace in John 14, she believed God’s Spirit would guide them, but she also understood that faith without action is dead. Yes, her hope was entangled with America’s sins—settlers displacing Indigenous nations and the same government that had enslaved her, preaching “manifest destiny.” However, Truth’s New Jerusalem was not about conquest. It was a mother’s prayer—a place where her people could rest, age with dignity, and keep their families safe. Her story challenges us this Easter: How do we strive for God’s “new heaven and earth” here, in the present, and not just in the afterlife? How do we work to transform broken systems toward justice, as she did, while honoring those still oppressed by them? Truth’s answer: Start where you are. Dig your hands into the dirt. And trust that Easter’s light can grow even in cracked soil.