Thursday, January 22, 2009

Benediction

Even though Barack Obama was not my Presidential pick, I watched the inauguration with great interest. I found myself getting caught up in the ceremony...until the end of the benediction. It was the equivalent of the naughty kid prayer, "rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub." People laughed. Reverend Lowery was a friend of Martin Luther King. Thus a fitting choice, until this...

"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."


It was really distracting from the solemn historic nature of the ceremony. It was definitely memorable however.

21 comments:

Linsey said...

Even the President was laughing...not exactly the perfect ending to a solemn occasion.

Liz said...

Agreed...it was more of a "I'm up here and I can say whatever I want" than it was a prayer.

Robin said...

I agree.

the wrath of khandrea said...

i don't see the easel with elder jordy's picture photoshopped into your new header. you should get on that.

the prayer is hilarious, but your point is well made. i guess it's important to keep it light in these tough times. maybe just not all up in god's face... ya know?

Nancy said...

That's hilarious! I didn't get a chance to watch, but now I'm sad I missed that. :)

Jenibelle said...

Oh Diane!! You are a girl after my political heart. I was so offended by that, it was class-less and unnecessary and uncalled for. And he was Obama's first choice for a prayer. Buckle up...it's going to be a wild ride.

Annemarie said...

That prayer was horrific. Seeing it in print makes it that much worse. Like you said, Sam could've done a better job.

Sunshine said...

I agree. It felt strange to have a prayer where no one was closing their eyes or bowing their head! It seemed that it was a speech (he was reading it) rather than a prayer to our Father in Heaven.

queenieweenie said...

that prayer was an abomination....didn't we just elect a black President??? I mean, come on, I know this guy is old but has he been in a coma for 20 years???

If I were a hyper Asian, I'd be pretty upset right now.

lisset said...

it was funny. and yes, it was a bit much. but really? it's not like we can hold him to the same prayer standards that we hold. it was a speech and the first prayer wasn't any better. the whole inauguration is always a bit more theatrical than is is solemn. seriously.

Hazen5 said...

Totally agree! Even my kids were shocked. And that's hard to do.

Tristan said...

Yeah that was really really weird. Never heard a prayer like that.

Ilene said...

Yellow will mellow? I thought that had to do with pee not a race.

Ew.

And why do us white people have to be strapped with choosing the right? I would so rather just "stick around" or "get ahead."

ferntyler said...

I totally missed it - so I was hoping you were joking! I'm all about bringing out the best in each race, but yellow mellow, really? black in back? weird..

Paige said...

I missed it so thanks for sharing. That is awesome.

D-dawg said...

Yeah, that bothered me. It was a bad ending to a good ceremony. Oh well. What can you do.

You wedding header is beautiful!

Maree said...

We did not have TV that day (the day of the move) so I didn't get to see it. I'm not much of a politico, but I wanted to see history being made. But I'm glad I missed that prayer. What an abomination. It's fine to want to be funny, but if you're offering the benediction, perhaps you should remember who you're addressing?

Linda Austin Hart said...

It wasn't a prayer at all, was it?! I hope we're not in for 4 years of this kind of thing.

We fed your missionary and his companion Tuesday night and I couldn't take pictures as promised, because my camera is broken. He is a handsome, bright young man and you can be *very* proud of him.

Lauren in GA said...

I don't know how I missed that. Thank you for telling us.

I love the new header picture!!!!!!!!!

The Family Rasheed said...

Dido!!! Seriously, I even hated the poem that was recited. I was however, very impressed with Obama's speech. I think he has the capacity to do some good things for this country, but only time will tell...

calibosmom said...

I laughed but you're right, it wasn't very appropriate and hey, "white get it right? I'm white and I'm Choosing the Right all the time!