"RISE AGAIN" - STAN ROGERS

In solidarity with the workers and their supporters protesting in Madison, Wisconsin.

And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
And life about to end
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend.
Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again.

Thanks to Jude at First Draft for the video. Jude is on the scene in Madison.

From Athenae at First Draft:

I really don't think it's possible to overstate what is happening here. How many times have we watched this happen? Really, how many times? People stood up against the war in 2003, in the millions, and we still went to war. People stood up for John Kerry in 2004, in the hundreds of thousands, and he lost. People have rallied and rallied and rallied, and all they've ever gotten for it is pounded on, when they weren't being ignored.

But they keep getting back up. Walker won the election and claimed a mandate, and they came. The bill passed the state assembly, in the middle of the night, and they came. The state's talk radio haters and newspaper commenters and conservative columnists called them all scum, and they came. Walker gave interview after interview, speech after speech, declaring victory, and they came.

The doors were locked against them, the building ringed by armed guards, and still they came.

Armed with nothing but signs, nothing but post-it notes, nothing but donated pizza and boundless cheer and limitless good will, they came. And they sang and they drummed and they wrote and they called and they inspired their friends and their neighbors and their elected officials and a nation, and no matter what happens now, everyone has seen it: What happens when you stand up. That it isn't pointless and it isn't useless and there is always, win or lose, value in it, because the view from uprightness is so much clearer and you need to see like that, once or twice in your life at least.
....

I believe in expecting the worst so as not to be surprised or disappointed, but it's hard to shake this horrible feeling, that is hope.

Watch the video from last night as the protestors left the capitol singing.

"OPENING OUR DOORS"

From Fr Jonathan Grieser, rector of, Grace Church, located on the square in Madison, Wisconsin, the site of the demonstrations for worker's rights:

The response to us opening our doors has been overwhelming. As a gesture it seems to have struck a chord in the community, and to some degree, more widely. There are concerns about security but welcoming people in, giving them space to warm up, reflect, and pray, is being hospitable.
....

Some might say to open our doors in such a way is to take a political stand on one side or another. To me, it’s being church. Because of our location, anything we do or don’t do, could be interpreted as taking a stand. Keeping the place buttoned up while 30,000 people are protesting outside our doors, sends a powerful message about who and what Grace Church is....

Read the rest at the blog, especially his commentary on the Evening Prayer service.

You may also want to read Fr Jonathan's sermon from this past Sunday.