"There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole.
There is a balm in Gilead
to Heal the sin-sick soul..."
In the ancient biblical city of Gilead, there was a healing salve that was said to cure anything. This balm has faded into myth and legend, and today the term “Balm of Gilead” has come to mean a “universal cure.” This Spiritual tells us that there is a universal cure that will heal the oppressed (“the wounded”) and that very same cure will heal the oppressor (“the sin-sick soul”)…
This Spiritual became one of the Freedom Songs of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950’s and 1960’s and also the seed for one of the stories that I perform…