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The Spirituals
Faith & Inspiration · Classic

Wade in the Water

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Use the arrow keys to move between letters. Press Enter or Space on the first letter of a word, then again on the last letter. Press Escape to cancel.

A few of the words

JORDAN
The River Jordan appears throughout the spirituals as a symbol of the crossing between bondage and freedom, drawing on the biblical passage of the Israelites entering the Promised Land.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
BAPTISM
Outdoor river baptisms were a cornerstone of worship in many Southern congregations, where the flowing water itself felt like a living part of the ceremony.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
TROUBLE
The lyric 'God's gonna trouble the water' echoes the Gospel of John, where an angel stirs the pool of Bethesda, and the stirred water brings healing.Find this word in the grid to read its note.
FREEDOM
Scholars note that 'Wade in the Water' carried a practical message too, moving through water helped travelers avoid detection by dogs, making the river a literal path to freedom.Find this word in the grid to read its note.

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Wade in the Water word search

Wade in the Water: a free large-print word search

Wade in the Water, free, large-print word search evoking cool river currents, ancient faith, and the long walk toward the promised shore.

About Wade in the Water

Few songs carry as much weight in a single phrase as "Wade in the Water." Rooted in the African American spiritual tradition, it has been sung at riverside baptisms, carried quietly along freedom roads, and raised in full voice in sanctuaries from the rural South to the great Northern cities. The image at its heart, stepping into a moving current, trusting what lies on the other side, holds together the sacred and the deeply human in a way that never grows old.

How to play

  1. 1
    Find a word.Tap its first letter, then tap along to its last. The trail fills in and finishes itself when it spells a word. Or press the first letter and drag.
  2. 2
    Words run in straight lines.Across and down, and on the harder difficulties diagonally and backwards.
  3. 3
    It marks itself.Each word you find takes on its own soft colour on the grid and is crossed off the list.
  4. 4
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