The Reverend Joseph Lowery

The day after the inauguration of Obama, I am still captivated by the benediction by Rev. Joseph Lowery. With all the emphasis on the new and the young I must say I was very moved by his words, the words of the wise elder. Here is a man who has clearly experienced suffering. Even though I was alive at the time, and remember sermons in my church supporting the civil rights movement, I can not imagine the courage and bravery of the civil rights activists of the mid-60's. To refresh my memory I just read the Wikipedia entry on the Selma to Montgomery marches for voting rights, and their perseverance against outrageous cruelty just sent chills through my body. In the face of deaths, of murders and bloody beatings, they marched and marched in non-violent protest.

Yesterday, reflecting on the grand picture, his prayer was alive with playful joy and sober guidance. Rick Warren's invocation, by comparison, seemed dry to me. But that is just me. I am sure it touched many also, and inspired some to join in the effort to reshape America.

One wonders on the importance of personal suffering to reveal the true joy and lessons of life. I also see that many people had a completely different take on the benediction, were offended, even suggesting that he was attacking whites. Wow, I just do not see that. In his very last paragraph he was grinning and having some fun with race relations, and to me, the day was all about having fun. (Note, as a biochemist and geneticist, I do not even believe in human "races", just human variation.)

The Rev. Joseph Lowery's Benediction:

From Obama's Inauguration Day

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, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.

We pray now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.

He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, 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 are 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, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.

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 mountain top, 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.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations 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 in 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. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.