2015 has started in a bit of a book lull for me. I have started and stopped multiple books and found myself hard-pressed to commit to anything for more than 20 pages before finding an excuse to read something else.
It doesn’t help that part of my job role at the bookstore is to gather the books of yesteryear, compile a list of keeps and discards, and send the books we no longer want or need from whence they came. I see books all the time that weren’t able to find a home and my heart sinks with each box we send away. Sometimes it becomes too much and I take a book out of the pile and sit for a minute to give it the audience it deserves, if only for a short period of time.
Today, a day like so many days before this one, I sat with a book I have looked at and passed over hundreds of times before.
The True Gospel Preached Here by Bruce West
University Press of Mississippi is often overlooked by younger audiences due to the subject matter they publish. Of course, I include myself in that pool of younger audiences. I can’t tell you exactly why I decided to open the book, and I’m sure the marketers over at UP would love to know as well, but I’m happy I did. The True Gospel Preached Here is a book of photographs by Bruce West that tells a story of persistence and conviction. It is the story of Reverend H.D. Dennis and his wife Margaret. In other ways it also describes the dedication of the photographer and his 20 years of work to preserve and capture the work of a man called by God.
There is a beautiful parable to be found on the pages of this incredible book. Rev. Dennis and his wife transformed an old grocery store into a monument for God and his people.
“God don’t have no white church and he don’t have no black church-only one church, Rev H.D. Dennis.”
The words are as exotic as the church itself. They cut deep into the soul of what it means to be human. There is universal truth in the words of a wise man, fixated on a singular cause. Flipping through the pages of this archive filled me with a great deal of joy. I was lost in the eyes of Rev Dennis and his wife. I noticed myself being captured not by the elaborate fixtures built for God, but of the people that created them instead.
Every photograph in this book demands to be studied. It demands your attention. In a world with so many people trying to do the one thing they believe they want to do, it was nice to sit with the pages of a book that showed a man and woman doing what they felt was necessary.
Rev and Mrs. Dennis are no longer with us; sadly, they passed away before the book was published. I’m not sure how much longer the book will be around, so stop by and sit with them for a minute.
Written by Andre
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