I just loved that part of President-elect Obama's speech Tuesday night. I think this is an extraordinary time for America, and I feel so proud. I truly hope we can finally come together. I do believe that if anyone can unite the country, it's this man.
I went to church today. I attend a Unity church, and for those who don't know it's not your average Christian church. We celebrate the life of Jesus as the great example rather than the great exception, and we recognize and embrace universal truths taught by other great religious traditions in addition to Christianity. We both meditate and pray, we celebrate diversity and the connectedness of all beings, and we are made up of both Democrats and Republicans. As a congregation we're definitely more left-leaning, but our minister does not use the podium to politicize. After all, we are a UNITY church.
However, today our minister took the opportunity to celebrate the leap our country has made in electing Barack Obama as President of the United States. He recalled the liberation movement of the '60's and '70's in this country as a time when Americans believed in a collective dream - that is, until our three strongest voices of hope were silenced one by one and the dream went underground. He said that we became focused on our individual dreams, having lost faith in what the country as a whole could become, and for 30 years (essentially my lifetime) we remained mired in separatist thinking.
And then Barack Obama made his way onto the national stage with his message of hope and his transformative mantra, "YES WE CAN." Our minister said the power of those three simple words is enormous because once again we are seeing ourselves as a collective, and we're recognizing that when one thrives we all thrive - and that together, WE can do whatever we set out to do, whether it's end the economic crisis or global warming or whatever the problem of the day. And we can live according to the ideals upon which this nation was founded. We're all in this together and recognizing this truth is the way forward.
I'm so glad that the media has celebrated what this means for African-Americans and all Americans. I've heard people say they never thought a black person would be elected President in our lifetime. A great healing is occurring in America that I pray will spread throughout the world in time. I realize we still have a long way to go and that there will continue to be hurdles for non-whites because of race (just as for other minorities), but we're finally getting there, and so many people who have never really felt that the President represented them truly feel Barack Obama is their President. I can only imagine what that must be like for a person of color, particularly anyone who is old enough to remember Jim Crow and the civil rights marches and the hope that seemed to die with MLK. I was watching a few older ladies for whom this is all true in church today, and the joy they exuded singing our closing song made tears well up in me.
As a woman and a mother and an American and a North Carolinian I'm going to be celebrating for a long time. I am just so filled with pride and gratitude and HOPE.
Our choir sang the perfect song for today, and I thought I'd share the lyrics. It's one we all know, even those too cool to like songs from Disney movies. And what the heck - I'll link the YouTube video as well!
Colors of the Wind (written for the film Pocahontas)
You think you own whatever land you land on
the earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You learn things you never knew
You never knew
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
or ask the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come run the hidden pinetrails of the forest
Come taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once never wonder what they're worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
or let the eagle tell you where he's been?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
How high does the sycamore grow
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry
To the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper-skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
Need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still all you'll own is earth
Until you can paint with all the colors of the wind.
I went to church today. I attend a Unity church, and for those who don't know it's not your average Christian church. We celebrate the life of Jesus as the great example rather than the great exception, and we recognize and embrace universal truths taught by other great religious traditions in addition to Christianity. We both meditate and pray, we celebrate diversity and the connectedness of all beings, and we are made up of both Democrats and Republicans. As a congregation we're definitely more left-leaning, but our minister does not use the podium to politicize. After all, we are a UNITY church.
However, today our minister took the opportunity to celebrate the leap our country has made in electing Barack Obama as President of the United States. He recalled the liberation movement of the '60's and '70's in this country as a time when Americans believed in a collective dream - that is, until our three strongest voices of hope were silenced one by one and the dream went underground. He said that we became focused on our individual dreams, having lost faith in what the country as a whole could become, and for 30 years (essentially my lifetime) we remained mired in separatist thinking.
And then Barack Obama made his way onto the national stage with his message of hope and his transformative mantra, "YES WE CAN." Our minister said the power of those three simple words is enormous because once again we are seeing ourselves as a collective, and we're recognizing that when one thrives we all thrive - and that together, WE can do whatever we set out to do, whether it's end the economic crisis or global warming or whatever the problem of the day. And we can live according to the ideals upon which this nation was founded. We're all in this together and recognizing this truth is the way forward.
I'm so glad that the media has celebrated what this means for African-Americans and all Americans. I've heard people say they never thought a black person would be elected President in our lifetime. A great healing is occurring in America that I pray will spread throughout the world in time. I realize we still have a long way to go and that there will continue to be hurdles for non-whites because of race (just as for other minorities), but we're finally getting there, and so many people who have never really felt that the President represented them truly feel Barack Obama is their President. I can only imagine what that must be like for a person of color, particularly anyone who is old enough to remember Jim Crow and the civil rights marches and the hope that seemed to die with MLK. I was watching a few older ladies for whom this is all true in church today, and the joy they exuded singing our closing song made tears well up in me.
As a woman and a mother and an American and a North Carolinian I'm going to be celebrating for a long time. I am just so filled with pride and gratitude and HOPE.
Our choir sang the perfect song for today, and I thought I'd share the lyrics. It's one we all know, even those too cool to like songs from Disney movies. And what the heck - I'll link the YouTube video as well!
Colors of the Wind (written for the film Pocahontas)
You think you own whatever land you land on
the earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name
You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You learn things you never knew
You never knew
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
or ask the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Come run the hidden pinetrails of the forest
Come taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once never wonder what they're worth
The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends
Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
or let the eagle tell you where he's been?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
How high does the sycamore grow
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry
To the blue corn moon
For whether we are white or copper-skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
Need to paint with all the colors of the wind
You can own the Earth and still all you'll own is earth
Until you can paint with all the colors of the wind.
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