The first time I teared up during the Inauguration was when Lady Gaga sang the Star-Spangled Banner. Neither the singer nor the song normally bring me to tears. It was not grief, though there is much to grieve. Nor were they tears of anger, though I have felt much anger. 

They were tears of relief. Almost a let-down reflex after maintaining vigilance for so long. 

From that point on I simply allowed the tears to flow…not every moment to be sure, but my eyes never fully dried until the final prayer. 

I was grateful for the Catholic priest’s invocation, a prayer that, with only minor changes in language, could have been offered in many a UU church, including ours. Grateful for the understated way JayLo sang  American the Beautiful and This Land is Your Land, even though the theft of this land was not mentioned until the closing prayer. Grateful for the pledge of allegiance in ASL. Grateful for the recognition of the hard times we have lived through, the cascading challenges that must be faced and the naming of how close we came to a meltdown. 

I expected President Biden to speak of unity. It has been his consistent message and his promise throughout the campaign. 

“To overcome the challenges, to restore the soul and to secure the future of America requires more than words. It requires the most elusive thing in a democracy—Unity. Unity.” 

“I know speaking of Unity can sound to some like a foolish fantasy. I know that the forces that divide us are deep and they are real. But I also know that they are not new.” 

Yes. President Biden spoke the truth about long-standing differences in the vision for America. Imagining a consensus vision? My preaching in recent weeks has given voice to real questions about that.  

But there was, for me, a saving qualifier in his call for unity. It was not prominent. I thought I heard it but had to search for it in the text: “enough of us have come together to carry all of us forward.” He was referring to the times in our past when progress was in fact made. 

The hope is for some coalition that can draw “enough of us” together, enough of us that believe in the America that was on display at the Capitol yesterday, and in the Cabinet and sub-Cabinet appointments, and in the multi-racial, multi-religious Senatorial campaigns in Georgia. 

It is that hope that allows me to weep; that allows me to hold my cynicism at bay. That hope that opens my heart to what I trust as the call of Love. 

“Enough of us.” 

Amanda Gorman put it in these words at the close of her Inaugural poem: 

“Our people, diverse and beautiful, 

Will emerge battered and beautiful. 

When day comes, we step out of the shade, 

Aflame and unafraid. 

The new dawn blooms as we free it. 

For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, 

If only we’re brave enough to be it.” 

I hope many of you will be joining the Oregon People’s Inauguration at 6 this evening.  To sign up and get the link, go to: 

https://tinyurl.com/firstu-or-inauguration

Blessings, 

Bill