I have purposely given myself a few days to process the spectacle that was President Obama’s inauguration.

It seems to me it would be easy to point out what was dissonant for me.  I will say this however.  I was told by my liturgy professor that when doing either a wedding or a funeral where there might be the occasion for someone other than the presider (the Clergy) to speak, do whatever you possibly can to assure that the Gospel, the Good News, gets the last word.

I’d have to say that the President got that one exactly right in his choice of The Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery to do the benediction for the inaugural.

I was reminded of the lesson that the fledgling politician Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn) in the film Milk learned in the aftermath of his first debate.  His political opponent critiques Milk’s performance in the debate by saying, in effect, “Harvey you’ve got a lot to say and it’s true but you talk more about what you’re against than what you’re for.  You spend so much time condemning what is that it’s hard for people to be hopeful in your message.  You’ve always gotta leave ‘em with hope. You’ve always gotta give ‘em hope.”

As Pastor Rick Warren’s prayer for civility and hope gave way to the President’s somber, honest and challenging message of where we find ourselves now, Rev. Lowery closed by appealing to our higher ideals by calling us to live in the hope of the ideals of peace, inclusivity, mutual respect and compassion that he managed to maintain at the core of his being through the darkest days of the struggle for simple dignity for an entire race of people in this country.  His message; hopefully, playfully and forcefully delivered, should give us pause to remember that there is Good News where we choose to see it and, given the chance, our better angels can prevail with God’s help.

Congratulations Mr. President on letting Hope have the last word and the Good News call us all into a more hopeful and gracious future!

Thank you Rev. Lowery for linking past horrors, emerging opportunity and present hope together for a new generation of God’s people (that would be all of us) to take aim at.