Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Day After

We spent most of yesterday glued to the television, watching the inauguration. Several friends were or are involved (two at St John's Lafayetter Sq, a few more at the National Cathedral today), and many friends went down to the Mall. An amazing day, a good speech, Rev. Joseph Lowery was amazing, Rev. Rick Warren was predictable (yes, Rick, you and I pray the Lord's prayer, but a large part of the rest of the world saw that as not their prayer), and the musicians who played in that cold are my heroes.

Praying for the new President and his team and his family, grateful to live in a nation where the transfer of power can happen peacefully, amazed that almost two million people can move around in the center of DC with almost no injuries, fights, arrests, happy that W is back in TX (my friend RM thanked Dallas for taking one for the team)...

So it's time to get dressed and go to work at school, setting up the choral music for the spring semester with our Prof of Church Music, doing some work on the debt relief research project, preparing for Diocesan Council. And it's time for the new president to get to work on the war in Iraq, the economy, health care, closing down Guantanamo, ending torture...time to pray.

3 comments:

Crimson Rambler said...

not wanting to be a party-pooper, but I suspect there was some lip- and finger-synching going on in the musical part of the ceremony...

Unknown said...

It was all good and wonderful. Tough to play a stringed instrument in the freezing cold!

mibi52/ The Rev. Dr. Mary Brennan Thorpe said...

Crimson, you were 100% right on the lip and finger synching. Twas discussed at some length on NPR this weekend. Further interesting stuff: a friend who has reason to know such things notes that she was surprised that Aretha was willing to sing in the cold, because a contract requirement is that the temp in her limo must be 80 degrees and the A/C in her dressing room must be shut off two hours before she comes to the venue.