Sunday, January 25, 2009

1/25: Sunday Night Off-Topic Video

In case you missed it...



Dr. Joseph Lowery gave the best speech at the Inauguration:

(Thanks, Steven Waldman for posting the transcript.)

God of our weary years,
God of our silent tears,
thou who has brought us thus far along the way,
thou who has by thy might led us into the light,
keep us forever in the path, we pray,

lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee,
lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Shadowed beneath thy hand may we forever stand --
true to thee, O God, and true to our native land.

[snip]

But because we know you got the whole world in your hand,
we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.
Our faith does not shrink, though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you're able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability,
mend our brokenness, heal our wounds and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor
or the least of these and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

[snip]

And while we have sown the seeds of greed --
the wind of greed and corruption,
and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption,
we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity
to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices,
to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations,
help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate;
on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountaintop,
help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family.
Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces,
our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

[snip]

Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
when tanks will be beaten into tractors,
when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree,
and none shall be afraid;
when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest,
and in the joy of a new beginning,
we ask you to help us work for that day
when black will not be asked to get back,
when brown can stick around --
when yellow will be mellow --
when the red man can get ahead, man --
and when white will embrace what is right.

Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: Say amen --

AUDIENCE: Amen!

REV. LOWERY: -- and amen.

AUDIENCE: Amen!

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