Jamm Rekk (Peace Only)

Reading this blog is like getting a Wolof lesson little by little. Loyal readers will at least be able to survive in Dakar.

Jamm rekk is the response to a number of questions, and is something i say often. Knowing the word jamm is also essential in pretending you speak Wolof. Listen for it, and the response is almost always jamm rekk (Exception ba suba ag jamm...until tomorrow with peace....jamm ag jamm...peace to me and peace to you)

Jamm nga am? (Do you have peace?)
Jamm rekk
Sa yaram jam? (Does your body have peace; are you healthy?)
Jamm rekk
In asking if you slept well, someone might ask you if you spent the night in peace - peace only.

Someone asked, well what if you have malaria or insomnia, in which case you would not have only peace. He was told the appropriate answer is still jamm rekk.

I can't help but think of the old hymn, It Is Well, "But whatever my lot/Thou hast taught me to say/It is well, it is well with my soul"
Because Christ is our joy, our hope, our peace - the anchor of our souls - we have the ability to say it is well, that we have peace only. This is not circumstantial; "it is well" with our souls no matter what happens to our outer bodies.

Today, I read Ephesians 2:14, which explicitly says that Jesus is our peace. With the gift of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, at all times and in all circumstances we have our peace living inside of us.

So even if I didn't sleep well or I'm sore from a workout on the beach, I can confidently respond jamm rekk

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil
Hebrews 6:19

For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation Ephesians 2:14