Saturday, August 29, 2009
Four Days was the title of a hardbound book that chronicled the funeral of President John F. Kennedy in 1963. A small 'coffee table book' that captured the poignant moments from his assassination through his burial. I remember those four days, from the feeling of terror when my third grade teacher Mrs. Lefkowitz told us of the president's death, up through the lighting of the eternal flame. April 4, 1968 - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death on the evening of my church's first banquet where the speaker was Rev. Dr. Wyatt Tee Walker, one of Dr. King's aides. Two months later, the death of Senator Robert Kennedy, and we grieved in numbed horror for this man who had been such a rock after Dr. King's passing. All of these memories have surfaced during this summer as we mourned the passing of others (Ed McMahon, Walter Cronkite, Michael Jackson, Eunice Kennedy Shriver among them).
New social networks allow us to share our thoughts while we watch the services, read the reports and try to take it all in. When presidents Reagan and Ford, Mother Rosa Parks and news anchor Peter Jennings died we didn't have this light-speed ability to come together - look how technology has evolved in five years. Awesome and slightly scary!
People including our president have commented that we have had time to prepare for Ted Kennedy's death. That block of time has softened or perhaps, for some, eliminated the shock of his passing on Tuesday. It didn't work that way here. My eight-year-old self remembered my and my classmates' tears and fright after JFK's death. (Our teacher decided to tell us but the other classes did not know until after school was dismissed) My eighth-grade self recalled the fearful pause and prayers during our church banquet when the announcment was made that Dr. King had been wounded, and after Dr. Walker finished his remarks, he led us in prayers for Dr. King's soul, and for his family and for our country. When Bobby Kennedy died, my eighth-grade self wondered if the world had gone crazy and if we were truly all going to die in that same year. We watched the grace and the dignity of the Kings and the Kennedys, and held onto the words of comfort, the prayers and the music. Mahalia Jackson sang at JFK's inauguration and at Dr. King's funeral. We clung tightly to "Precious Lord, Take My Hand" as Mrs. King comforted her youngest daughter.
My adult self remembered the agony of waiting for news about JFK Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law, watching Ted Kennedy lead his family through that crisis. We cried and reminisced about John-John and again watched the grace of this family, held close by the youngest son who had become the patriarch too soon by our emotional standards. Teddy brought his family through those days, and he also brought us through. He was and will be the image of redemption which is defined thus by wiser persons than yours truly, courtesy of
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn: [the italics are mine]
(theology) the act of delivering from sin or saving from evil repayment of the principal amount of a debt or security at or before maturity (as when a corporation repurchases its own stock) the act of purchasing back something previously sold
We talk of people changing their lives, making amends, giving back after a tragedy or wrongdoing. Senator Edward M. Kennedy took his public lashings and he gave back to the American people through his work for over four decades. Whether you like him or loathe some of the things that he did, you cannot deny that he worked hard to make life better for citizens in this country. He didn't seek publicity for what he did, he sought justice and equity for those of us who were not born on the smoother end of the playing field. The Bible charges us to forgive the sins of one another as we ask God to forgive our sins. There are a lot of songs that we sing in church about redemption, restoration, being washed clean from sin. If a man or woman has changed their life, has been delivered of sin or saved from evil, when do we stop trying to beat them into the ground for their past??
Speaker after speaker this week has shared with us their memories of Ted Kennedy, a lot of which we may not have known. This was no act that was put on to fool us. What they spoke about were the actions of a man who sought and found grace. We should all be so fortunate to have friends such as these, to have family such as this. I pray that their memories will keep them warm, bring chuckles and laughs to their lips and smiles to their hearts. That they will draw on those memories when they ask 'what would Teddy do?'
No doubt there will be a coffee-table book about Teddy's life, to join the beautiful autobiography about Nelson Mandela, the inauguration of President Barack Obama, and the countless other books about persons who gave their best efforts, gave their lives to public service. That book will end up in my collection. It is a privilege to live in an age where we can see firsthand the good works of these people.
There is also a self-challenge to try harder, try something else, team up with an opponent to improve life in our country. And there is another challenge - to remember the definition of redemption, to be mindful of our own ledger of accountability. Don't go along with or co-sign wrongdoing, but when the wrong is resolved or corrected, let it go. Move on and move forward. Thank you, Bill Clinton, for looking forward and looking out for the underserved and the unprotected.
As the funeral mass ends, the recessional begins and we hear "America The Beautiful" - now the tears start and I can't sing. The lump in my throat is painful, but I whisper the words. I am proud to be an American, born in this country where my african ancestors were met by my native-american ancestors. I will make the most of this day and my life because
I can,
WE can all do something to make it better for someone else besides ourselves.
Thank you, Teddy for your determination and courage! You were saved from evil by God's grace. Your debt is stamped 'Paid in Full'. You have gone from labor to reward. Rest in peace.
