Raise your Voice
JULY 5TH, 2009 — 14TH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
WITH VOICES RAISED (music by Stephen Flaherty), 2 COR 12:7-10, MARK 6:1-6
Dear Friends,
We celebrate our independence as a country this weekend. It's a time of barbeques, beaches, bonfires and fireworks. It's a family time, a time when many 'come home' to vacation with their loved ones, to gather around the grill, to OU and AH at the fireworks and hopefully to celebrate the gift of freedom that we enjoy in this country. Freedom has not come easy to all who live in this country, and in some ways, many are decidedly un-free. The words to the Song With Voices Raised cited below remind us of the struggle for freedom and the awesome gift that it truly is. It is a song written by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens: "In honor of the last Fourth of July of our century, the creators pay tribute to Americans of several centuries who have raised their voices in the cause of freedom and equal rights. It was performed in 1999 by the Boston Pops at the Fourth of July concert on the Esplanade." I am especially drawn today to the quote from John f. Kennedy: "We all breathe the same air". Imagine if we all lived in an awareness of that reality!
With Voices Raised
With voices raised
We honor those
Whose struggles turned us
Toward the light
Who strove to see a
Century close
In human good
And equal right
With voices raised
With voices raised
With voices raised
With voices raised
Their truth survives
And echoes down the halls of time
In simple words
And passionate lives
Across the years
Their voices climb
With voices raised
With voices raised
Raised!
They found the courage to be strong....
"If particular attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to instigate a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no representation or voice" (Abigail Adams, 1776)
"Look at me. Look at my arm. I have plowed, I have planted, and I have gathered into barns. And no man could head me. And ain't I a woman?" (Sojourner Truth, 1851)
"I have never had a vote, and I have raised hell all over this country! You don't need a vote to raise hell! You need convictions and a voice" (Mother Jones, 1914)
"I wish to introduce today a proposal that has been before Congress for the last forty years and that sooner or later must become part of the basic law of this land-- The Equal Rights Amendment" (Shirley Chisolm, 1969)
With voices raised...
They fought to live
Their lives... with pride!
"A leaf for hand in hand
You natural persons old and young!
You on the Mississippi and on all branches and bayous of the Missippi!
You friendly boatmen and mechanics! You roughs!
You twain! And all processions moving along the streets!
I wish to infuse myself among you till I see it common for you to walk hand in hand" (Walt Whitman, 1853)
With voices raised
With voices...
They marched in peace
And stood as one.....
"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground" (Frederick Douglass, 1857)
"I am here to demand my rights and to hurl thunderbolts at the man who would dare to cross the threshold of my manhood" (Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, 1868)
"We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the right of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary" (Malcolm X, 1964)
"We are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us" (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, 1965)
With voices raised
In struggle
In courage
In praise
Of the ones who could not be silent
Across
The restless years
Their voices raised
Their voices raised
[orchestral interlude]
"If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most common basic link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." (President John F. Kennedy, 1963)
And in their courage
We are strong
And we will live our lives
With pride
March on, fight on
Against all wrong
And journey
Side by side
With voices raised
To reach the sun
Let all courageous hearts be praised
And build on what
Brave hearts have begun...
An open door
To make once more...
A brave new century
Of voices raised...
Raised!
Raised!
We honor those
Whose struggles turned us
Toward the light
Who strove to see a
Century close
In human good
And equal right
With voices raised
With voices raised
With voices raised
With voices raised
Their truth survives
And echoes down the halls of time
In simple words
And passionate lives
Across the years
Their voices climb
With voices raised
With voices raised
Raised!
They found the courage to be strong....
"If particular attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to instigate a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no representation or voice" (Abigail Adams, 1776)
"Look at me. Look at my arm. I have plowed, I have planted, and I have gathered into barns. And no man could head me. And ain't I a woman?" (Sojourner Truth, 1851)
"I have never had a vote, and I have raised hell all over this country! You don't need a vote to raise hell! You need convictions and a voice" (Mother Jones, 1914)
"I wish to introduce today a proposal that has been before Congress for the last forty years and that sooner or later must become part of the basic law of this land-- The Equal Rights Amendment" (Shirley Chisolm, 1969)
With voices raised...
They fought to live
Their lives... with pride!
"A leaf for hand in hand
You natural persons old and young!
You on the Mississippi and on all branches and bayous of the Missippi!
You friendly boatmen and mechanics! You roughs!
You twain! And all processions moving along the streets!
I wish to infuse myself among you till I see it common for you to walk hand in hand" (Walt Whitman, 1853)
With voices raised
With voices...
They marched in peace
And stood as one.....
"Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground" (Frederick Douglass, 1857)
"I am here to demand my rights and to hurl thunderbolts at the man who would dare to cross the threshold of my manhood" (Bishop Henry McNeal Turner, 1868)
"We declare our right on this earth to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the right of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary" (Malcolm X, 1964)
"We are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us" (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, 1965)
With voices raised
In struggle
In courage
In praise
Of the ones who could not be silent
Across
The restless years
Their voices raised
Their voices raised
[orchestral interlude]
"If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most common basic link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal." (President John F. Kennedy, 1963)
And in their courage
We are strong
And we will live our lives
With pride
March on, fight on
Against all wrong
And journey
Side by side
With voices raised
To reach the sun
Let all courageous hearts be praised
And build on what
Brave hearts have begun...
An open door
To make once more...
A brave new century
Of voices raised...
Raised!
Raised!
(music by Stephen Flaherty)
As you seek to live with deeper freedom in your life, we invite you to come and pray with us at Spirit of Life. We are a Catholic community where every voice is heard, and women and men are unafraid to acknowledge the equality of women and men; and to embrace feminine as well as masculine….and beyond….images of God. We invite you to join us at Spirit of Life. As a community, we try wholeheartedly to "be Christ" to one another, to tend to the needs of one another, and to those in need in our world. Together, we celebrate our belief that we are being transformed by God's grace as we gather together in prayer. We warmly invite you to come and gather with us at our Table, and join in our experience of the "kin-dom" of God. We are an inclusive, open, affirming and interactive community, deeply committed to being a people of "justice and joy."
Wishing you the gift of extending freedom to all whom you encounter in your lives,
Find more about past weekly reflections and podcasts in our ARCHIVE PAGE.
