This afternoon, President Barack Obama delivered a truly stunning eulogy for the state Senator, Rev. Clementa Pinckney. Moving not only for the families of those so terribly slain and their community, but also full of deeper meaning on this momentous day for all LGBT Americans and their friends and families.
"The Reverend" Obama (warmly said by the pastor at the end of the service) spoke of God's grace...of the grace that the AME congregation offered to Dylann Roof when they welcomed him into their bible study...
Amazing grace...
...of the grace that God is giving us--rising from this horrific tragedy--the chance to see where we 'once were blind', perhaps now we may truly see one another, as human beings.
...that we can receive this grace, and honor it...in our lives...amazing grace in action...
...taking down the confederate flag--a symbol of oppression and hatred--is an act of grace, and a moral commitment to transform who we are as individuals, communities, a nation--into a country where everyone is equal, everyone is free...
...living transformed lives, with open minds, and open hearts.
He spoke of several ways in which each of us can make moral choices to change--ourselves and our communities--as an extension of this amazing grace, stopping the cycles of institutional poverty, ongoing gun violence, and prejudicial hatred (to name just a few).
'The Reverend' Obama closed by singing the chorus of 'Amazing Grace', invoking it for the souls of those who were slain...
...but especially for our nation---that "once was blind, but now (may) see"...
You can view the replay at cspan