Rev. S.J. Rice

The name S.J. Rice appears only once in Stones from the Creek.  Throughout the story "Wade in the Water," the minister is referred to only as "preacher" because Mingo Sanders is hiding in the woods, listening to the preaching, but trying to avoid being greeted in Christian fellowship.  Later, in the story "Scars," the guard finds a letter from Sanders addressed to Reverend Rice.  Even there, the salutation is only to "My Dear Brother in Christ."

But Reverend Rice is a significant figure in both stories.  We hear his voice almost as often as that of Mingo Sanders in "Wade in the Water."  Given my personal background, where does that voice come from?  I have wondered a lot about this and here are my answers, so far.

James Forbes, Jr. is the Senior Minister Emeritus of Riverside Church in New York City.  He was ordained in the Baptist and Holiness churches and can (and does!) preach with erudition, thoughtfulness and emotion.  I have listened to him address huge crowds and I have listened to him preach to ten people.  I have stood in a circle of three and listened to him.  I have never heard him say anything like the fictional character S.J. Rice says, but the strong prophetic and pastoral voice, both admonishing and caring, that I tried to convey through Reverend Rice is always present in James Forbes.

I have only been present to hear Desmond Tutu preach once.  It was in the winter of 2003, during the run-up to the Iraq War.  The other clergy present at the event all prayed God to prevent the war, which left me completely cold.  Tutu, though, said that God was praying to us to stop the war.  He said that the only hands God has on earth are yours.  And he looked directly at individuals in the crowd.  That "yours" could be singular or plural, but Bishop Tutu left me with the unmistakable feeling that I could not leave this work to somebody else.  That reversal of expected rhetoric stayed with me.  Again, I do not hear Bishop Tutu's actual voice in the character S. J. Rice.  But the challenging sensibility is there.

There is more to explore in this, but that is what I am comfortable concluding so far.