Whispers of Racism Come Between Friends

Why would someone whisper in a kettle? Will Ford's ancestors owned the kettle for generations, but it took a divine meeting with a man named Matt Lockett to discover the depth of the story hidden in it. With the full power of God's hand on them, Lockett and Ford met at a prayer meeting at the Lincoln Memorial. Lockett admitted that he'd been drawn to that prayer meeting by a dream.

A friendship developed as the two traversed the country speaking at prayer meetings together. They began to find common ground. Although Matt was a pro-life advocate and Will, a descendant of slaves, was sharing a message of racial healing, Will said, "The Lord said this to me, 'If I heard the silent whispers of slaves under kettle pots, how much more do I hear the silent screams of babies being aborted in this nation?'" But a part of Will's story from the first night they'd met was echoing in Matt's heart, "He shared a part of the story that shocked me. The kettle had been handed down to Harriet Lockett."

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Will spoke of his relatives from generations past using a kettle to muffle their prayers from their slave masters. Matt recollected a prayer kettle owned by his family in Virginia. How odd that they both knew about the history of a prayer kettle. The search centered on a Harriet Lockett who had inherited one just like the men had talked about. But the chances of their families being connected in any way, would be short of a miracle.

Skeptics would say it is a coincidence. Believers would say it’s a “God - incident,” but GODSPEED Magazine readers would know that it is God in Action. Yes, it was something out of the heavenly realm that connected Will Ford, whose family had been owned by Matt Lockett’s family, to begin a generational healing for both descendants. Much pain, soul-searching and forgiveness ensued with stories of abuse and beatings when Will Ford's ancestors were Lockett family slaves. It required Will to forgive Matt’s family and for Matt to repent of his families’ sins for their role in owning a man whose descendant had become his best friend. What a fitting place for this all to begin – on the steps where Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream was to bring an end to racism. And all from a kettle.