For the ears, you can listen to an audio recording [high fidelity audio playable under all personal computer operating systems via VLC media player, Microsoft Windows Media Player with the Xiph.org codecs for FLAC et al, OS X QuickTime with the XiphQT plugin, etc., on many Android-based mobile devices, and on iOS-based mobile devices via apps such as FLAC Player or Golden Ear]

This discussion revolves around the background and content of Were You There? Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals, a new book by Luke Powery. This is a companion volume to Rise Up, Shepherd! Advent Reflections on the Spirituals, also by Luke Powery.

Other books mentioned were:

• Slave Songs of the United States, compiled in 1867 by William Francis Allen, Charles Pickard Ware, and Lucy McKim Garrison.
• The Book of American Negro Spirituals by James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamund Johnson.
• American Negro Songs: 230 Folk Songs and Spirituals, Religious and Secular by John Work.