The “Field of Flags” at the National Mall in Washington, DC, USA. Approximately 191,500 flags will cover part of the National Mall and will represent the American people who are unable to travel to Washington, for the inauguration ceremonies.
“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.”
- The words of Amanda Gorman, Poet Laureate, from her moving poem during the inauguration of Joseph Biden and Kamala Harris as President and Vice-President of the United States of America.
The Rev. Victor H. Kazanjian Jr., Executive Director of URI, shares:
America has walked itself back from the brink of the abyss,
from the valley of the shadow of division and death,
back from four years of hateful and divisive rhetoric and violence,
back from xenophobic isolation,
away from a totalitarian trajectory,
away from the shade and shadow,
and towards the light.
I cried tears of relief and hope through much to the inauguration ceremonies today,
a day that celebrated in prose, poetry and music
the diversity of humanity
in all of its shapes and forms,
that comprise the collage of the country where I live.
Today in the United States,
only a week after violent insurrection,
was a day that rejected hate and supremacies of all kinds,
and embraced love and equality of all beings.
Today was a day that embraced the sorrow of lives lost…
Through months of the pandemic;
Through years of systemic racism, sexism and homophobia;
Through centuries of the oppression of Indigenous peoples.
Today was a day that lifted up love of neighbor over promotion of self,
and praised promise over profit.
Today in America was a day that celebrated ordinary people:
Health care workers, teachers, construction workers, farm workers, parents...
Ordinary people doing extraordinary things every day
to help their fellow human beings.
Today was an extraordinary day in America.
I have one addition that I would add to this extraordinary day.
It is that the beautiful words spoken today,
in the context of a particular country,
are not just about one country,
not just about the United States of America,
but rather about all countries, all humanity, all living beings.
One of the struggles of the United States is that it is a young country,
in many ways an immature country,
too often referring to itself as the greatest, the best.
This is a great flaw,
perhaps even a great sin,
of pride.
May the people of the United States discover
what I have discovered by being a part of the URI global community,
a global community of people of all cultures and religions,
dedicated to peace, justice and healing
for the Earth and all living beings,
a community of ordinary people
doing extraordinary things every day
in service of their neighbors, of humanity,
of our animal and plant siblings,
of our Mother Earth.
May the people of the United States,
and the people of the world,
awaken to the reality that we are one people, one planet,
inextricably interconnected, interwoven.
May we people of the Earth community,
be aflame and unafraid,
as 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.”