The religious experiences of the slave were rich and full because his avenues of emotional were definitely limited and circumscribed. His religious aspirations were expressed in many songs delineated varying aspects of his desires. The other-worldly hope looms large, and this of course is not strange; the other-worldly hope is always available when groups of people find themselves completely frustrated in the present. When all hope for release in this world seems unrealistic and groundless, the heart turns to a way of beyond the present order. – An exert from The Centering Moment by Howard Thurman `