January 20th, 2021 by Dave Leave a reply »

Amanda Gorman, the nation’s first-ever youth poet laureate, read the following poem during the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20:When day comes we ask ourselves,where can we find light in this never-ending shade?The loss we carry,a sea we must wadeWe’ve braved the belly of the beast

We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peaceAnd the norms and notionsof what just isIsn’t always just-iceAnd yet the dawn is oursbefore we knew itSomehow we do itSomehow we’ve weathered and witnesseda nation that isn’t brokenbut simply unfinishedWe the successors of a country and a timeWhere a skinny Black girldescended from slaves and raised by a single mothercan dream of becoming presidentonly to find herself reciting for oneAnd yes we are far from polishedfar from pristinebut that doesn’t mean we arestriving to form a union that is perfectWe are striving to forge a union with purposeTo compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters andconditions of manAnd so we lift our gazes not to what stands between usbut what stands before usWe close the divide because we know, to put our future first,we must first put our differences asideWe lay down our armsso we can reach out our armsto one anotherWe seek harm to none and harmony for allLet the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:That even as we grieved, we grewThat even as we hurt, we hopedThat even as we tired, we triedThat we’ll forever be tied together, victoriousNot because we will never again know defeatbut because we will never again sow divisionScripture tells us to envisionthat everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig treeAnd no one shall make them afraidIf we’re to live up to our own timeThen victory won’t lie in the bladeBut in all the bridges we’ve madeThat is the promise to gladeThe hill we climbIf only we dareIt’s because being American is more than a pride we inherit,it’s the past we step intoand how we repair itWe’ve seen a force that would shatter our nationrather than share itWould destroy our country if it meant delaying democracyAnd this effort very nearly succeededBut while democracy can be periodically delayedit can never be permanently defeatedIn this truthin this faith we trustFor while we have our eyes on the futurehistory has its eyes on usThis is the era of just redemptionWe feared at its inceptionWe did not feel prepared to be the heirsof such a terrifying hourbut within it we found the powerto author a new chapterTo offer hope and laughter to ourselvesSo while once we asked,how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?Now we assertHow could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?We will not march back to what wasbut move to what shall beA country that is bruised but whole,benevolent but bold,fierce and freeWe will not be turned aroundor interrupted by intimidationbecause we know our inaction and inertiawill be the inheritance of the next generationOur blunders become their burdensBut one thing is certain:If we merge mercy with might,and might with right,then love becomes our legacyand change our children’s birthrightSo let us leave behind a countrybetter than the one we were left withEvery breath from my bronze-pounded chest,we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous oneWe will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,we will rise from the windswept northeastwhere our forefathers first realized revolutionWe will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,we will rise from the sunbaked southWe will rebuild, reconcile and recoverand every known nook of our nation andevery corner called our country,our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,battered and beautifulWhen day comes we step out of the shade,aflame and unafraidThe new dawn blooms as we free itFor there is always light,if only we’re brave enough to see itIf only we’re brave enough to be it

A Liberating Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a liberating Spirit. Even when we experience lack of freedom in our daily lives, time in prayer can be an experience of full freedom in God’s presence. I sometimes miss the exuberance of the charismatic movement of which I was a part in the 1970s and the freedom we felt to worship God with our whole selves. Theologian James Cone (1938–2018) writes about the deep sense of freedom experienced in the communal worship of the Black church in the United States:

Black worship itself is a liberating event for those who share the experience of the people that bears witness to God’s presence in their midst. Through prayer, testimony, song, and sermon the people transcend the limitations of their immediate history and encounter the divine power, thereby creating a moment of ecstasy and joy wherein they recognize that the pain of oppression is not the last word about black life. It is not unusual for the people to get “carried away” with their feelings, making it difficult for an observer to know what is actually happening. But the meaning of this event, according to the people, is found in their liberating encounter with the divine Spirit. In this encounter, they are set free as children of God. To understand what this means for black people, we need only to remember that they have not known freedom in white America. Therefore, to be told, “You are free, my children” is to create indescribable joy and excitement in the people. They sing because they are free. Black worship is a celebration of freedom. It is a black happening, the time when the people gather together in the name of the One who promised not to leave the little ones alone in trouble. The people shout, moan, and cry as a testimony to the experience of God’s liberating presence in their lives. . . . [1]

Black people can fight for freedom and justice, because the One who is their future is also the ground of their struggle for liberation. It does not matter what oppressors say or do or what they try to make us out to be. We know that we have a freedom not made with human hands. . . . For black people’s singing, praying, and preaching are not grounded in any human potentiality but in the actuality of God’s freedom to be with the oppressed as disclosed in the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Jesus is their freedom. [2]

The early church surely knew the liberating effect of the presence of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the apostle Paul’s teachings had so much impact because he restored human dignity in another time of widespread oppression, slavery, and injustice. Into the corrupt and corrupting Roman Empire, Paul shouts, “One and the same Spirit was given to us all to drink!” (1 Corinthians 12:13). He utterly levels the playing field: “You, all of you, are sons and daughters of God in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26)In Paul’s estimation, the old world was forever gone and a new world was born in which everyone is free.


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