For the first time in a long time, I felt strong stirrings of patriotism. For the first time in a long time, I felt pride in the leadership of my country. I cried during the singing of "My Country Tis Of Thee". I stood proudly and sang the national anthem.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
"Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
Martin Luther King - "I Have A Dream"
I stood and sang our National Anthem. The cats looked askance thru the kitchen window. What a wonderful day!
ReplyDeletePiskie, I sang both songs, too. What a day, indeed!
ReplyDeleteLike a weight lifted from our shoulders.
ReplyDeleteAmen! I must curb my enthusiasm.
ReplyDeleteEven Rick Warren seemed as tiresome as Bush and Cheney...I think those blowhards have finally run out of hot air...more to follow.
ReplyDeleteLeo, Warren coulda done worse. I'm in a generous mood.
ReplyDeleteI actually got out of bed at 3am and watched until 4.45am. However it was a hot night here and hard to sleep, probably did not get below 20'c (68'F) so was in my shortie pajamas (no pics :-)) But you people do have long prayers.
ReplyDelete...so was in my shortie pajamas (no pics :-))
ReplyDeleteNo matter. I have an indelible picture in my mind now.
Sometimes, we do have long prayers.
You ENJOYED Ms Franklin's mutilation of God Save the Queen? Gimme a break!
ReplyDeleteI just can't seem to get this tune out of my head today.
ReplyDeleteLapin, no break for you. I enjoyed it, and I heard nothing about saving the Queen. We share a tune. That' all. You have your "saving the Queen" as you like it. We'll have our "my country" song as we like it. Sorry about that.
ReplyDeleteMike, that's a very nice tune to have running in your head. I've had a lot worse songs repeating themselves in my head.
Oh Mimi! Do tell.
ReplyDeleteStill a godawful, tuneless, rhythmless performance, regardless of the words, Mimi.
ReplyDeleteGrandmère, I cried when an announcer on CNN said that it was noon and Obama was officially president. This sudden display of emotion was totally unexpected and surprised me.
ReplyDeleteLapin, that is your opinion. Mine differs. I liked Aretha's version. She made me cry. Let us have our day of rejoicing.
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, I cried several times throughout the ceremony, too, but man tears are a whole different thing.
Obama is so poised and cool and seemingly comfortable in his own half-black and half-white skin. I never thought I'd see this day.
While I am glad to see everyone enjoying themselves, I feel it my duty to keep things grounded. We must expect too much. As I've noted before, this country will never change for the better until I am undisputed and absolute monarch.
ReplyDeleteMark, what a wonderful day it will be when you are absolute monarch. Just give us this day with Obama, and then we'll get grounded again and look ahead to that great day.
ReplyDeleteLapin just has no Soul, Mimi. Pity him.
ReplyDelete***
I stood and sang our National Anthem.
Me too! First time in, like, just about forever. [I still draw the line at "God Bless America". ;-/]
***
this country will never change for the better until I am undisputed and absolute monarch.
Oh, I absolutely agree!
Oh dear: you seem to have made a tiny mistake, Mark. For the words "I am", you meant to say "JCF is". I shall be, you'll be happy to know, forebearing when my subjects err.
And therefore no need to fret about atonement, JCF.
ReplyDeleteA Great day for all the World!
ReplyDeleteGöran, it's humbling to think of what our election meant to folks all around the world. I'm glad we got it right this time.
ReplyDeleteIt does - and for the poorer nations it means far more than for us lucky ones.
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