Amazing Grace - Just The Black Notes

This man explains the song's history first, so for those of you
who already know the history, be sure to stick with it or fast
forward until he sings. You will never think of the song Amazing
Grace the same way again after you have heard him sing it. Gives
you goose bumps! I promise you will rewind to hear it again.

From Doug.

Obama On His Choice Of Rick Warren

Had Obama asked me, I'd have suggested the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Alas! He did not ask me, and I know he would never do that anyway.

Rick Warren Obama's ChoiceTo Give Invocation

Scott had it first.

Then from The Huffington Post:

On Wednesday, the transition team and Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies announced that Rick Warren, pastor of the powerful Saddleback Church, would give the invocation on January 20th.
....

"My blood pressure is really high right now," said Rev. Chuck Currie, minister at Parkrose Community United Church of Christ in Portland, Oregon. "Rick Warren does some really good stuff and there are some areas that I have admired his ability to build bridges between evangelicals and mainline religious and political figures... but he is also very established in the religious right and his position on social issues like gay rights, stem cell research and women's rights are all out of the mainstream and are very much opposed to the progressive agenda that Obama ran on. I think that he is very much the wrong person to put on the stage with the president that day."

I'm Grandmère Mimi, and I agree with the Rev. Chuck Currie's message.

UPDATE: Letter sent by Paul, the BB:

Dear Mr. Mehta:

I have noted, via several blogs, that Rick Warren is being asked to give the invocation at the inauguration.

I am sure you will hear many voices, pro and con, about this. Here are my thoughts.

Rick Warren is famous and comes across as affable. He is also, that veneer notwithstanding, not all that different from Don Wildmon or James Dobson. He is a well-known homophobe who equates gay relationships with incest and bestiality. His thinking in this area is ignorant and, because of the influence he wields in conservative circles, harmful to the LGBT community as it undergirds their oppression and continued second-class status among the American citizenry.

He is entitled to his view, of course, but that the Obama team would give a man like this such a platform and validation is a slap in the face to all LGBT Americans.

Make no mistake about it; this is a visceral insult.

I have had to cope with my own sister putting a Yes on Prop 8 sign up on her lawn. She is a conservative evangelical and a Republican, so although this was a gratuitous insult to her own brother it was not surprising.

But to have a Democratic transition team that proclaims "hope" and "change" to sponsor an affable bigot really comes as a surprise, a disappointment, and an insult. We would expect this of a Republican administration catering to the religious right.

I urge President-elect Obama and the transition team to reconsider. You should not be inviting distrust, disappointment, and a feeling of betrayal in such a large segment of your supporters so early on. This hits us where we live, it is an issue of millennia of injustice being perpetuated in our own time, and you will lose huge amounts of good will.

It may be too late. I hope it is not.

Please do not betray your friends and supporters.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Paul E. Strid

O Radix Jesse

December 18

O Root of Jesse, which standest for an ensign of the people,
at Whom the kings shall shut their mouths,
Whom the Gentiles shall seek,
come to deliver us, do not tarry.

Latin

O Radix Jesse, qui stas in signum populorum,
super quem continebunt reges os suum,
quem Gentes deprecabuntur:
veni ad liberandum nos, jam noli tardare.


Isaiah 11:1, 11:10

A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse,
and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
....

On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Oxford.

Text from Fish Eaters.

In My Own Country

 

From the Houma Courier:

Publicity hog that I am, I draw your attention to an article about me in the newspaper from a neighboring town. The reporter, Laura McKnight, did an excellent job with the interview and with the article. We seemed to hit it off right away, so I thought she might do right by me, and she did. I don't know about holding court with the world. I believe that I'm not quite there, yet.

Wait till I get hold of Abby, the photographer. I know Abby, and I told him to make me look beautiful, but he did not. I even look bald in the picture. Trust me, I have hair on the front of my head. It is white, but it is there. I won't be too harsh with him, since he was limited by what he had to work with.

UPDATE: Sorry, but I had to post another picture of me to show that I'm not bald. Peace to you, Abby Tabor.

Feast Day Of Dorothy Sayers

Dorothy Leigh Sayers was an English writer and scholar, born at Oxford in 1893, the only child of an Anglican clergyman. She studied medieval literature at Oxford (Somerville College), being one of the first women to graduate (1915) from that university.

Here (from memory) is the start of a poem from the former volume:

"Christ walks the world again, his lute upon his back,
his red robe worn to tatters, his riches gone to rack.
The wind that wakes the morning blows his hair about his face,
and his arms and legs are ragged with the thorny briar's embrace,
for the hunt is up behind him, and his sword is at his side.
Christ the bonny outlaw walks the whole world wide,
singing: 'Lady, lady, will you come away with me,
to lie among the bracken, and eat the barley bread?
We shall see new suns arise, in golden far-off skies,
for the son of God and woman has not where to lay his head.'"

She worked for several years writing advertising copy, until she was able to support herself by the sale of her books and stories.

James Kiefer.

Prayer

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Dorothy L Sayers special gifts of grace to understand and teach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

I've read and reread the Lord Peter mysteries and The Mind of the Maker, but I have not read her poetry, nor have I read Are Women Human? Reading those two will go on my to-do list.

Thanks to Ann.

Perhaps Al-Zaidi Has Suffered Enough

From the Guardian:

Muntadhar al-Zaidi will go down in Arab folklore as the man who dared to throw his shoes at George Bush but his immediate problem is how to recover from the reprisals he suffered after his bold gesture. His older brother, Dargham, has told reporters Muntadhar suffered a broken hand, broken ribs and internal bleeding, as well as an eye injury, and is in hospital.

News reports from the scene described al-Zaidi "screaming", as he was dragged out. Perhaps, he was screaming from his injuries, rather than at Bush. Watch the video clip from the Guardian.

Now he's a cult hero all over the Arab world.

H/T to Juan Cole.

First Try At Creating A Human

 

Thanks to Lapin, who found this while cleaning out his office. He found another cartoon, which is very funny, but which I shall not publish.

"Barack Obama Defeats Barack Hussein Obama"

From The Onion:

In one of the most hotly contested and pivotal races in U.S. history, Democratic candidate Barack Obama emerged victorious on Nov. 4, beating out the one man who could have taken the presidency away from him, Barack Hussein Obama.
....

"I don't think we've heard the last of Barack Hussein Obama," noted political strategist Karl Rove said. "I have a feeling he'll be back in 2012."

Read the rest. PJ Hussein, take note.

O Adonai

December 17

O Adonai, and Ruler of the house of Israel,
Who didst appear unto Moses in the burning bush,
and gavest him the law in Sinai,
come to redeem us with an outstretched arm!

Latin

O Adonai, et Dux domus Israel,
qui Moysi in igne flammæ rubi apparuisti,
et ei in Sina legem dedisti:
veni ad redimendum nos in brachio extento.


Isaiah 11:4-5

But with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

Antiphon sung by the Dominican student brothers at Oxford.

Text from Fish Eaters.