Robert T. Young - "There Is a Longing in the Land" (October 31, 1976)

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	(soft instrumental music)	0:04
	(choir music)	5:03
-	Please be seated.	10:41
	Dearly beloved to the scriptures move us to acknowledge	10:48
	and confess our sins before all mighty God	10:51
	our heavenly father.	10:53
	With a humble, lower penitent and obedient heart	10:55
	to the end that we may obtain forgiveness	11:00
	by his infinite goodness and mercy.	11:03
	Therefore I pray and besiege you as many as I hear present,	11:06
	to accompany me with a pure heart and humble voice	11:12
	unto the throne of heavenly grace,	11:15
	let us confess our sins to Almighty God.	11:19
	Have mercy upon us Oh God,	11:23
	according to the love and kindness,	11:26
	according to the multitude of light, tender mercies	11:29
	lout out our transgressions.	11:33
	Wash us thoroughly from our inequities	11:36
	and cleanse us from our sins,	11:40
	for we acknowledge our transgressions	11:43
	and our sins are ever before us.	11:46
	Cast us not away from the presence	11:50
	and take not thy Holy Spirit from us.	11:54
	Restore unto us the joy of thy salvation	11:57
	and uphold us with thy free spirit.	12:02
	Let us continue in personal silent meditation	12:06
	and confession.	12:10
	This is the message which we have heard from Him	12:43
	and proclaimed to you, that God is light	12:46
	and in Him is no darkness at all.	12:49
	If we walk in the light as He His in the light,	12:53
	we have fellowship with one another	12:56
	and the blood of Jesus His son, cleanses us from all sin.	12:59
	Amen.	13:06
	(soft instrumental music)	13:17
	(choir music)	14:01
-	People of God, God's word comes to us this morning	19:34
	first in the Old Testament,	19:40
	from the book of Isaiah, the 26th chapter	19:43
	beginning with verse one.	19:47
	"In that day, this song will be sung in the land of Judah.	19:51
	We have a strong city,	19:58
	he sets up salvation as walls and bulwarks.	20:00
	Open the gates that the righteous nation which keeps faith	20:05
	may enter in.	20:10
	Thou thus keep him in perfect peace,	20:12
	whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusts in thee.	20:16
	Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God	20:23
	is an everlasting rock, for he has brought low	20:27
	the inhabitants of the height the lofty city.	20:32
	He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,	20:36
	casts it to the dust, the foot trams it	20:42
	the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy.	20:46
	The way of the righteous is leveled, now that make smooth	20:51
	the paths of the righteous.	20:56
	In the path of the judgments Oh Lord, we wait for thee.	21:00
	Thy Memorial name is the desire of our soul.	21:04
	My soul yearns for thee in the night,	21:08
	my spirit within me earnestly seeks thee,	21:12
	for when by judgements are in the earth	21:16
	the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.	21:19
	If favor is shown to the wicked	21:23
	he does not learn righteousness.	21:26
	In the land of uprightness he deals perversely	21:29
	and does not see the majesty of the Lord.	21:32
	Oh Lord, thy hand is lifted up, but they see it not.	21:36
	Let them see thy zeal for thy people and be ashamed.	21:42
	Let the fire for the adversaries consume them.	21:46
	Oh Lord, thou will ordain peace for us	21:50
	thou has rot for us all our works."	21:54
	The Epistle this morning is Paul's Epistle to the Romans.	22:19
	And the word will come to us beginning in the eighth chapter	22:24
	commencing with the 18th verse.	22:28
	"I consider that the sufferings of this present time	22:33
	are not worth comparing with the glory	22:35
	that is to be revealed to us.	22:38
	For the creation weights with eager longing	22:41
	for the revealing of the sons of God.	22:44
	For the creation was subjected to futility	22:48
	not of its own will,	22:51
	but by the will of him who subjected it in hope,	22:52
	because the creation itself will be set free	22:57
	from its to decay and obtain the glorious liberty	23:00
	of the children of God.	23:05
	We know that the whole creation has been groaning in travail	23:08
	together until now, and not only the creation	23:13
	but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit	23:17
	grown inwardly as we wait for the adoption as sons,	23:23
	the redemption of our bodies,	23:27
	for in this hope we were saved.	23:30
	Now hope that is seen is not hope,	23:33
	for who hopes for what he sees,	23:37
	but if we hope for what we do not see	23:40
	we wait for it with patience."	23:43
	Will the people rise for the reading of the Gospel?	23:47
	The gospel reading is in Mark's Gospel	24:09
	the fourth chapter beginning with the 21st verse.	24:11
	"And he said to them,	24:15
	is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel	24:17
	or under a bed and not on a stand?	24:20
	For there is nothing hid except to me made manifest,	24:23
	nor is anything secret, except to come to light.	24:28
	If any man here has ears to hear, let him hear.	24:32
	And he said to them, take heed what you hear,	24:37
	the measure you give will be the measure you get,	24:40
	and still more will be given to you,	24:44
	for to Him who has, will more be given.	24:47
	And from him who has not,	24:51
	even what he has will be taken away."	24:53
	Thou end God's reading for this morning.	24:57
	May He add an understanding to this reading of His word.	25:01
	Amen.	25:06
	(soft instrumental music)	25:08
	(choir music)	25:17
-	Let us affirm what we believe.	25:51
	We believe in God who has created and is creating,	25:54
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	26:00
	to reconcile and make new,	26:04
	who works in us and others through the spirit.	26:07
	We trust God who calls us to be the church	26:11
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	26:16
	to love and serve others, to seek justice and resist evil,	26:19
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen.	26:26
	Our judge and our hope in life in death,	26:30
	in life beyond death.	26:36
	God is with us, we are not alone, thanks be to God.	26:39
	The Lord be with you.	26:46
	Let us pray.	26:50
	And then our prayers this morning we,	27:01
	we'll want to remember especially Tom Davis,	27:08
	who has read our lessons for us	27:13
	and will be installed this afternoon	27:17
	as the Presbyterian United Methodist Campus minister	27:22
	here at the university.	27:28
	Let us pray.	27:31
	We turn to thee Oh Lord, in Thanksgiving,	27:37
	We praise thee for the gospel of our love to men and women.	27:44
	The word of salvation to all people	27:51
	and for the revelation of their glory among all the nations.	27:56
	We bless thee for faithful ministers of every age,	28:02
	who have born their witness to the truth.	28:10
	We bless thee for the labors of those	28:16
	who first brought the gospel to us	28:21
	and who continue in that noble task.	28:24
	Especially this day we bless thee	28:31
	for the life and ministry of Tom Davis.	28:33
	And we besiege thee our father that	28:40
	your blessings will be upon him as he seeks to minister	28:43
	in your name, to your people, in this place.	28:50
	We turn to thee Oh Lord, in penitence	29:00
	besieging thee that thou will forgive us	29:10
	for all of the sins, we've committed	29:15
	by word, thought and indeed.	29:17
	Begging of thee Oh God,	29:24
	that we might hear thy word of forgiveness	29:26
	even while we pray	29:35
	with the assurance that we are your children.	29:38
	We turn to thee Oh Lord,	29:46
	because we need you this morning,	29:49
	more even than we know we need you Oh God.	29:57
	And we pray that in this hour while we tarry in this place,	30:06
	you will make us more aware of our need.	30:13
	Make us to have open hearts to receive your presence.	30:21
	We need you to forgive our sin.	30:33
	We need you to give us strength.	30:35
	We need you to give us purpose.	30:39
	We need you to heal our bodies.	30:44
	We need you to bring peace to our minds.	30:51
	We need you our father, to give us life everlasting.	30:57
	So come Lord Jesus and abide with us	31:04
	and teach us to rest upon your power and upon your presence	31:13
	all the days and all the years of our lives.	31:20
	In joy and in sorrow, in peace and in pain,	31:27
	in light and in darkness, in sickness and in health,	31:37
	in life and death, keep us so close to you	31:46
	that we may know you and knowing we may love you	31:56
	and loving we may serve you.	32:05
	While we ask it all in the name of your son and our savior	32:11
	even Jesus Christ, who taught us to pray.	32:18
	Our father who art in heaven, hallowed to be thy name,	32:26
	thy kingdom come,	32:32
	thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.	32:34
	Give us this day our daily bread	32:39
	and forgive us our trespasses	32:43
	as we forgive those who trespass against us	32:46
	and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil	32:50
	for thy is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.	32:55
	Amen.	33:01
-	Do you know what today is?	33:26
	Oh, I know it is all hallows even that it is Halloween.	33:32
	It is the day before All Saints' Day.	33:43
	It's the day after we beat Georgia Tech	33:47
	worse than we ever have before.	33:48
	It's 60 days before the Bicentennial year ends.	33:54
	It's two days before election day '76.	33:59
	Surely it is all of these,	34:05
	but it's also my friends a day for writing a letter.	34:09
	Will you join with me this morning	34:17
	in writing a letter to the president?	34:20
	Will you give me your attention, focus,	34:26
	your thoughts and feelings and dreams and hopes	34:28
	and longings all together.	34:30
	As we write a letter to the soon to be elected president	34:36
	of the United States.	34:41
	Mr. Roy E Stryker,	34:47
	famous photographer of another generation,	34:51
	writing in the preface to a book of his pictures	34:53
	entitled "In this Proud Land" says,	34:56
	"We have lost many of the important things	35:02
	from our good way of life."	35:07
	Bishop James Armstrong,	35:13
	Bishop in the United Methodist Church asks the question,	35:14
	"Do we as individual human beings	35:17
	have any real significance beyond the space which we occupy,	35:19
	or the air which we breathe, do we really?"	35:24
	David Wilson syndicated columnist rights.	35:34
	"Sure there are good, decent, honest,	35:36
	compassionate people around,	35:39
	but in the mass, Americans seem more like a herd of immoral,	35:41
	mutually suspicious, ruminant consumers,	35:46
	heedless of their enlightened self interest	35:49
	and heedless of the rights and feelings of others.	35:52
	What sort of government he asks,	35:55
	does such a people deserve?"	35:57
	What sort of government do we deserve?	36:03
	I do not know what we deserve in the way	36:07
	of a government to lead us this morning.	36:09
	I have some ideas about what we need	36:12
	in the form of a government to lead us,	36:15
	but for the few next few moments ahead of us I want us	36:19
	to write of the longing that we have in our land,	36:22
	the longing or the longings that you and I	36:28
	and countless other persons in this nation of ours have.	36:32
	Now I know as well as you do that politics and government	36:37
	and US news stories about our past and present and future	36:39
	and about presidential campaigns have been front and center	36:44
	for a long, long time.	36:47
	It surely seemed like it's been forever.	36:49
	1976 has covered a lot of ground	36:52
	and many of us will be also glad	36:54
	when the Bicentennial year is over,	36:57
	when the campaigns are finished	36:59
	and when the election is passed	37:01
	and we can see and hear and read about something	37:02
	other than politics and government.	37:05
	But as we think about Tuesday,	37:08
	as we all make plans to vote on election today,	37:12
	let us join together in writing a letter to the president	37:17
	of the United States, whomever he may be.	37:22
	Because I don't really care who wins on Tuesday,	37:26
	our longings and our needs are going to be the same.	37:29
	My dear Mr. President,	37:37
	we write to congratulate you on your election as president	37:41
	of the United States.	37:45
	This is an office only 37 other persons	37:48
	in all of history of hell, you have been entrusted	37:51
	with the highest position of responsibility	37:55
	we Americans can give to one of our own.	37:57
	You have campaigned long and hard.	38:00
	You have sought eagerly and extraneously,	38:02
	your efforts have been rewarding.	38:05
	You have been chosen to serve as leader of us all.	38:08
	And so my first word is congratulations.	38:13
	And may the grace of God bless your life,	38:17
	enlighten your mind, strengthen your will	38:20
	and direct your spirit as you lead us from this moment	38:22
	until a new decade, the decade of 1980 dawns in our midst.	38:26
	We write also Mr. President,	38:33
	to share some of our feelings about our nation,	38:34
	where we are, what our moods are and where we hope to move.	38:37
	We write as concerned citizens who wish you well	38:42
	in your efforts to lead us with justice and with mercy	38:46
	and with humility.	38:50
	We ask only for your serious consideration	38:54
	of this message we write to you,	38:58
	because we write to you now not as a partisan politician,	39:00
	because as of Wednesday you belong no more to your party,	39:03
	you belong to all of us.	39:07
	We agree with Robert Bella, the sociologist	39:12
	who writes in his book, "The Broken Covenant."	39:14
	The redemption of a corrupted society	39:17
	is nearly unprecedented in history.	39:19
	We realize that.	39:24
	And we do see that our contemporary society	39:27
	is corrupt in many, many ways.	39:29
	We do understand that the healing of such a society	39:31
	is virtually unprecedented.	39:34
	But we Americans have never been known	39:36
	to let precedents stand in the way	39:38
	when we wanted to accomplish something.	39:40
	Usually if we agree on a goal	39:43
	and put ourselves to achieving it, we make it.	39:45
	Unfortunately, not all the goals for which we have strived	39:48
	in recent history have been worthy or commendable,	39:52
	but to set our minds and hearts, souls, and wills	39:55
	to redeeming society may well be worth	39:58
	all of the necessary costs involved.	40:01
	Let me assure you though, let us assure you though,	40:06
	Mr. President,	40:08
	we do not expect you to solve all of our problems,	40:10
	to give us all of the answers or to do all of the leading.	40:14
	We do not expect miracles from you either now	40:18
	or any of the time you are in office.	40:21
	We ask only for responsible stewardship of your abilities	40:23
	and responsible stewardship of the abilities	40:29
	of those persons accountable to you.	40:32
	As you have campaigned and as you have worked	40:38
	with your most ardent and faithful supporters,	40:40
	you have doubtless heard and seen much about the moods	40:42
	and the needs of America.	40:45
	However, you have probably been sheltered and protected	40:47
	and your staff have probably not let you see or read or hear	40:50
	all of the story.	40:54
	So we share some of our feelings.	40:58
	There is much discontent among us now.	41:01
	We are a restless, nervous, anxious, uneasy	41:04
	and worried people.	41:07
	There is much apathy among us, Mr. President.	41:10
	Needs and problems that once excited us	41:13
	and stirred us and moved us to act now leave us quiet	41:15
	and indifferent and unconcerned.	41:18
	Our public schools are still with tension and fear	41:21
	and unrest.	41:24
	Minority and ethnic persons are yet to be treated	41:25
	as full citizens with equal rights and equal opportunities.	41:28
	Women are misused, manipulated and treated unfairly	41:32
	in many educational and business and governmental agencies.	41:35
	Our elderly are just as lonely and neglected as ever.	41:39
	We have more poor now than we have ever had,	41:45
	25 million of us, over 10% of us below the poverty line.	41:48
	These problems once moved us to try to get help and action,	41:53
	but we seem apathetic now.	41:59
	There is hurt in our land now, Mr. President.	42:02
	There are folks who have suffered deprivation	42:05
	ever since the first day of their lives.	42:08
	As one example, Mr. President, the migrant workers	42:11
	who move among us in various parts of the country,	42:14
	some of them picking beans, some of them picking apples,	42:17
	some of them picking grapes,	42:19
	those who work with these people tell us	42:21
	that they suffer virtually everything shameful	42:23
	about our society.	42:26
	That there is poverty almost beyond belief,	42:27
	that there's rampant disease and malnutrition,	42:30
	that there's racism filled and swallowed,	42:32
	we can't even guarantee that they'll have a bathroom	42:35
	nearby to use.	42:38
	Pitiful children drained of pride and hope,	42:39
	exploitation and powerlessness.	42:43
	There is hurt at a distance for all of us.	42:46
	When we read of the young New York woman,	42:51
	whose three day old child was chewed up and killed	42:54
	by their dog.	42:58
	There is hurt among us Mr. President.	43:02
	There is disappointment and even disgust rather widespread.	43:07
	Perhaps it began several years ago now when we were lied to	43:12
	about the Bay of Pigs Invasion,	43:15
	when we relied to about how many troops we had in Vietnam,	43:17
	about the bombing in Cambodia and Laos,	43:20
	which was denied for months	43:23
	and still we really don't know of our involvement in Chile	43:25
	and Watergate, yes, this brought great disappointment	43:29
	and much disgust to all of us	43:31
	and the presidential part and only compounded it for us.	43:33
	More recently the sexual exploits of congressional leaders	43:37
	have repulsed us, the abuse of congressional power,	43:41
	the sneaky way that Congress raises its salary every year.	43:44
	Yes, there is widespread disappointment and disgust	43:48
	among us Mr. President.	43:52
	Perhaps underlying all of these negative feelings	43:55
	is a very basic fear about the future,	43:58
	which is prevalent among us, the future some say,	44:00
	what future will it be, can it be, is it to be?	44:05
	Ours is the first generation to exist in all of history	44:11
	where there was some power	44:16
	other than the power of Almighty God,	44:18
	which was able to destroy the world.	44:20
	Mr. President, you and the head of the Soviet Union	44:23
	can order that destruction in a flash	44:27
	and we can all be annihilated in a moment.	44:30
	And that's a fearful thought.	44:34
	And so Mr. President, we sense also much suspicion	44:39
	about what goes on in Washington,	44:43
	much disrespect for those who lead us	44:46
	and little for the words and actions	44:49
	of you and your colleagues but now,	44:52
	may we respectfully say some other things, Mr. President.	44:54
	The state of affairs which we have lived with	44:58
	under Democratic and Republican leadership,	45:00
	the conditions described above,	45:03
	this is not the way that we want life to be in our country.	45:05
	This is not the way it should be.	45:09
	This is not the way it can be.	45:11
	So we hear the words of Isaiah this morning,	45:16
	"My soul yearns for thee in the night,	45:18
	my spirit within me earnestly seeks for thee,	45:21
	or when thy judgments are in the earth	45:25
	the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness."	45:27
	Then we hear the word to Paul.	45:30
	"For the whole creation waits with eager,	45:32
	longing for the revealing of the sons of God.	45:35
	We know that the whole creation	45:38
	has been groaning in travail until now.	45:40
	And we've grown inwardly	45:43
	as we wait for the redemption of our bodies.	45:45
	We in this hope we were saved.	45:48
	Now hope that is seen is hope,	45:50
	for who hopes for what he sees?	45:53
	But if we hope for what we do not see	45:56
	we wait for it with patience."	45:58
	And then the words of stark surprise from Jesus	46:01
	where he says, "There is nothing hid	46:04
	except to be made manifest,	46:07
	nor is anything secret except to come to light.	46:10
	If anyone has ears to hear let him hear.	46:15
	Yearning, longing, waiting, eager longing,	46:18
	groaning, and waiting, hoping, hidden to be revealed,	46:22
	secret to come to light,	46:26
	let those who can hear, let them hear."	46:27
	There is a longing in the land, Mr. President.	46:33
	There is a longing in the land	46:37
	and although we do not expect you to do it all for us,	46:39
	we're convinced that you can have more influence	46:43
	in fulfilling these longings	46:46
	than any other one person in our midst.	46:49
	There is a longing for us to be healed.	46:54
	We ache, we long, we have had inner turmoil	46:58
	and outer conflict.	47:05
	Help us, Mr. President,	47:07
	to become a healed, healthy, whole people.	47:10
	At heart we are one, we do belong to one another.	47:16
	There is a longing Mr. President,	47:26
	that you will give us a sense again of what is decent.	47:27
	We're tired and sick of rudeness and immorality	47:31
	being portrayed as good and right,	47:34
	of bribes that are called simply inappropriate gifts,	47:38
	of crime that is only misguided zeal,	47:41
	of lies being only misspoken words, of power corrupting	47:45
	and of absolute power corrupting absolutely.	47:49
	As Malcolm Boyd, the Episcopal priest puts it,	47:52
	"Just give us the guts to practice what we preach."	47:55
	Help us to know the truth.	48:02
	The truth which will set us free.	48:06
	For there is something indecent about laws	48:11
	that require a teenage girl to have her parents consent	48:13
	before she can have her ears pierced,	48:17
	but she needs no one's permission to buy a gun	48:20
	or to get an abortion.	48:24
	Help us define again a sense of decency in our midst	48:27
	to where schools and church can help us really to learn,	48:30
	where hospitals can help us to be healed,	48:34
	where universities can help us to gain understanding,	48:37
	where marriage can help us to know faithfulness,	48:40
	where families can help us to be secure,	48:43
	where our communities can give us a sense of belonging.	48:46
	Maybe the wretchedness the sword	48:50
	in the indecency of our lives is our own fault.	48:52
	If so Mr. President, help us to see it and know it	48:55
	and do something about it.	48:58
	Perhaps Dag Hammarskjöld was right when he wrote,	48:59
	"Is life so wretched?	49:02
	Isn't it rather your hands which are too small,	49:05
	your vision which is muddied.	49:09
	You are the one who must grow up."	49:12
	Help us Mr. President, to recover again a sense of decency,	49:17
	help us to grow up.	49:23
	There is a longing in our land for you to help us	49:26
	to regain a sense of trust,	49:29
	trust in ourselves and trust in others,	49:31
	help remove the constant suspicion	49:34
	that seems to be ever present among us.	49:36
	Everyone is suspect, everyone may be out to get me	49:38
	or to do me in,	49:41
	everyone is trying to find some information about me	49:43
	for the FBI, the IRS, or the CIA,	49:46
	something to tell my boss or something in our case here	49:49
	to tell my professor or my Dean or my girlfriend	49:53
	or my boyfriend, or my parents.	49:56
	Who has control of all of the information about us	49:58
	now held in computer banks.	50:01
	Whose mail is being opened, whose telephone is being tapped,	50:03
	whose car is being followed.	50:07
	Is it only the rich and the powerful and the wealthy	50:09
	and the underworld	50:11
	or could these things happen to any one of us?	50:12
	Give us again the assurance that we can trust	50:17
	and can be trusted,	50:20
	deliver us from the nightmare of Big Brother.	50:21
	We don't want to live in the hell of 1984, May 1984,	50:24
	never come either in 1976 or '77 or 1984, may it never come.	50:30
	We want to trust, we can trust, we will trust again.	50:38
	Let your actions and your words and those of your colleagues	50:45
	be worthy of our trust.	50:49
	There is a longing in our land	50:53
	that you may help us recover the desire to care,	50:55
	but we feel we are basically a caring people,	50:59
	but much of that has been lost.	51:02
	There is a longing that one day we will be motivated	51:05
	as much by love for others as by our lust for dollars,	51:09
	that one day we will be respected as a nation	51:14
	as much for our charity, as for our technology.	51:17
	That one day our desire to share	51:21
	will match our demands for respect.	51:23
	That others will rise up and call us blessed	51:26
	rather than arrogant,	51:29
	merciful rather than mighty,	51:31
	helpful rather than exploitative.	51:33
	That one day it will be as newsworthy	51:36
	to show an act of compassion	51:39
	as it is now to commit an active of crime.	51:41
	There is a longing that one day we will know	51:45
	that it is not being liberal or conservative	51:47
	or Democratic or Republican	51:50
	to want the hungry fed or the naked cloth,	51:51
	the stranger taken, the prisoner visited,	51:54
	the mentally and physically sick made,	51:57
	the oppressed said free.	51:59
	As a matter of fact,	52:01
	one does not even have to be Christian to care like that.	52:02
	All that is necessary is to show human concern.	52:05
	We really don't need anymore of big government,	52:09
	big city or county or state or federal government,	52:12
	a big daddy or big mama or big any kind of thing,	52:15
	all we need is to see the value	52:18
	and the worth of each individual human being as a person.	52:20
	Martin Buer reminds us, every person born into this world	52:26
	represents something new,	52:31
	something that never existed before,	52:33
	something original and unique and valuable.	52:36
	There is the longing Mr. President, for us to care again.	52:40
	Help us to know that to suffer is not the worst thing	52:44
	that can happen to us, the worst thing is not to believe	52:48
	in anything worth suffering for.	52:52
	The needs and hungers and desires of other people	52:56
	are worth suffering for.	52:59
	Help us to care again.	53:02
	There is a longing in the land, Mr. President,	53:05
	for divine guidance for you.	53:12
	We hope you will share with us	53:16
	some of your relationship with God.	53:18
	We don't want to invade your privacy.	53:22
	We don't want you to bury your soul	53:25
	anymore than you want to.	53:27
	But let us know that you are aware of your own humanity.	53:30
	And this means that know that you know	53:35
	that you are dependent upon God	53:37
	and you are dependent upon other people.	53:39
	You really cannot lead us by yourself,	53:42
	you do need God's guidance and the guidance of other people.	53:46
	So we ask you to pray, to seek God's blessing,	53:51
	to seek God's wisdom.	53:57
	One of the greatest of your predecessors,	54:01
	Abraham Lincoln once said,	54:04
	"I should be the veriest shallow	54:08
	and self conceded blockhead upon the foot stool,	54:12
	if in the discharge of the duties	54:17
	put up on me in this place,	54:20
	I should hope to get along without the wisdom of God."	54:24
	There is a longing in our land, Mr. President.	54:33
	There is a longing for you to get on with leading us today,	54:39
	Mr. President.	54:46
	To lead us, inspire us, challenge us,	54:48
	demand something of us, ask us for sacrifice,	54:52
	call upon us to give of ourselves.	54:57
	Provoke us, inform us, be real, be honest,	55:00
	be open, be candid.	55:08
	And as you lead, as you serve,	55:12
	our prayers will be offered for you.	55:17
	And as we close this letter, Mr. President,	55:21
	may you and we indeed may all of us find meaning	55:27
	and hope in this word	55:30
	from the late Dr. Martin Luther king, Jr.	55:32
	He said, "I still believe that standing up for the truth	55:37
	of God is the greatest thing in the world.	55:44
	This is the end of life.	55:49
	The end of life is not to be happy.	55:53
	The end of life is not to avoid pleasure,	55:58
	to enjoy pleasure and avoid pain.	56:02
	The end of life is to do the will of God come what may."	56:08
	Mr. President, thank you for your willingness	56:18
	to read our words.	56:23
	May strengthen and wisdom and peace and good health	56:27
	be yours.	56:35
	With affection and esteem, your people.	56:38
	In the name of God who creates us, redeems us	56:49
	and sustains us, Amen.	56:56
	(soft instrumental music)	57:04
	(choir music)	57:47
-	Oh God, of whose bounty we have all received,	1:07:20
	accept this offering of thy people,	1:07:24
	remembering thy love those who have brought it	1:07:27
	and those for whom it is given.	1:07:31
	And so follow it with thy blessing that it may promote peace	1:07:34
	and good will among people	1:07:38
	and advance the kingdom of our Lord in savior Jesus Christ.	1:07:41
	Amen.	1:07:46
	(soft instrumental music)	1:07:49
	(choir music)	1:08:15
	The peace of God which passes all understanding,	1:11:38
	keep your hearts and minds and the knowledge	1:11:41
	and love of God and of your son Jesus Christ our Lord,	1:11:43
	and the blessings of God Almighty,	1:11:46
	Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be with you	1:11:48
	and remain with you always, Amen.	1:11:52
	♪ Amen ♪	1:11:58
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:04
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:13
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:29
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:41
	♪ Amen ♪	1:12:59
	(bell ringing)	1:13:18
	(instrumental music)	1:13:32
	(audience applauding)	1:19:31
	(indistinct chattering)	1:19:52

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "There Is a Longing in the Land" (October 31, 1976)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4jm27h51

Date:

October 31, 1976

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0861
ref6922_iu3
uachapelsermaud
duke:628267
dcrau002818
ark:/87924/r4jm27h51
edb2a5b2-e838-4414-829e-5df265c40dc9

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings, 1954-2005

Related Resources:

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Language:

English

Location:

United States
North Carolina
Durham (N.C.)

Format:

Provenance:

The Duke University Chapel Recordings were transferred to the Duke University Archives beginning in 1970.

Rights:

Limited Re-Use

Educational Use Permitted

Rights Note:

This material is made available for educational and non-commercial use. This recording may contain 3rd party materials, such as music or readings that are therefore not covered by the license indicated here. Copyright in this material has not been transferred to Duke University. For other reuses of this material beyond those permitted by fair use or otherwise allowed under the Copyright Act, please see our page on copyright and citations https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/research/citations-and-permissions.

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Robert T. Young - "There Is a Longing in the Land" (October 31, 1976)

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1. Robert T. Young - "There Is a Longing in the Land" (October 31, 1976)

Duke University Archives

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Robert T. Young - "There Is a Longing in the Land" (October 31, 1976)

Transcript

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Duke University Archives

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