Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God (Matthew 5:8-9).

On the Road to the Howard Thurman Home

Recently, Wanda and I headed to the Florida Atlantic coast for a few days before a college singers competition where she worked as a collaborative pianist. Not Florida-philes, we did not know much about the area except it includes Daytona. Wanda already loves to tell about my awakening from a nap as she drove on the interstate. I bolted upright from sleep and exclaimed, “Hey, Howard Thurman grew up in Daytona!”

With a quick search on my phone, I found that, sure enough, we could visit the Howard Thurman Home where the great mystic, pastor, spiritual writer, and proponent of nonviolence grew up. So we did a few days later.

Our visit coincided with the annual biker’s convention in Daytona, so roars of bad mufflers framed contemplative silence. The numbers gathered for part swaps and bikini contests far exceeded pilgrims like us. But the Howard Thurman Home is a sacred place, not for folks such as us to miss.

The Howard Thurman Home, included on the National Register of Historic Places, stands out in the neighborhood as a remnant of the past. Mossy oaks and modest homes surround the two story, cream-colored house. The site manager, Qasim Abdul-Tawwab, greeted us warmly and shared stories of Thurman’s life.

From Prayer Tree to Pulpit

Howard Thurman Home

I quickly spotted the most anticipated sacred object there, the great oak under which young Howard sat and prayed. So fond was he of the prayer tree that he sometimes spoke to it as a friend. Through nature he found a mystical rapport with God that sustained and formed him when church let him down. 

How did the church let him down? Qasim shared that Thurman’s grandmother, Nancy Ambrose, took a strong role in his upbringing. When Thurman’s father, Saul, died, the clergy at their church refused to lead the service. So she arranged for an itinerant preacher to lead it, but rather than honoring Saul, he condemned him for not faithfully attending church. Young Howard was dismayed.

Later when time came for confirmation, Howard flew over the clergy’s heads. He had reflected quite deeply and prayerfully about his faith, and his answers to their questions were not as simple and black-and-white as they expected. Only with Nancy Ambrose’s advocacy did they come around.

Ironically, he grew up to become a pioneer in worship as the first African-American Dean of the Chapel at Boston University. Moreover, he served as the first lead pastor of the interracial and interdenominational Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco, among other posts. Somehow the young mystic praying alone under the oak tree found his way to the pulpit.

Writings That Touched Me

Why did I bolt upright on Interstate 75 upon realizing that we headed in the direction of Thurman’s childhood home? Because Thurman, through his writings, provides much spiritual sustenance to me. Like many others, I find Thurman’s Jesus and the Disinherited a masterpiece of biblical reflection and social insight. Thurman demonstrates how Jesus addresses racial injustice but how the African-American experience sheds light on Jesus’ ministry. Furthermore, his volumes of contemplative reflections like Meditations of the Heart, the Inward Journey, Deep Is the Hunger, and Disciplines of the Spirit offer nourishment and wise companionship for the life of prayer and action.

Nature and Community

Yet, visiting the Howard Thurman Home and hearing Qasim’s stories awakened me to a fine facet of Thurman’s witness. In an age when many turn away from the church to solitary inspiration from nature, we do well to remember that Howard Thurman put them together. He could have fled the faith community and stayed under the tree where the Spirit sustained him when the church missed the mark. He could have chosen the ivory tower and set his gaze beyond the divisions we mortals inevitably make with each other.

But we know Howard Thurman’s witness was true because the creator God who meets us in quiet contemplation under a stately oak is also the crucified God who meets us and strengthens us amid oppression and affliction. For God is love, and true encounters with God are more than spectacles in the night. They are commissions to care and to share the wondrous truth that Thurman found in nature, scripture, the search for understanding, and building bridges across social divides. In church, despite our shortcomings, we do that caring and sharing with each other and take it to the world. It is all of a piece. Howard Thurman’s life bears witness to that.

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Jesus and the Disinherited: Howard Thurman’s Wisdom For Our Crisis

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Recommended Resources

With Head and Heart: The Autobiography of Howard Thurman

What Makes You Come Alive: A Spiritual Walk With Howard Thurman by Lerita Coleman Brown