![]() Our pain cuts that much deeper because it happened in a church. To the families of the fallen, the nation shares in your grief. (Applause.) People so full of life and so full of kindness. And then to lose him at 41 - slain in his sanctuary with eight wonderful members of his flock, each at different stages in life but bound together by a common commitment to God.Ĭynthia Hurd. You don’t have to be of high station to be a good man. Sometimes I think that's the best thing to hope for when you're eulogized - after all the words and recitations and resumes are read, to just say someone was a good man. He embodied the idea that our Christian faith demands deeds and not just words that the “sweet hour of prayer” actually lasts the whole week long - (applause) - that to put our faith in action is more than individual salvation, it's about our collective salvation that to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and house the homeless is not just a call for isolated charity but the imperative of a just society. “Our calling,” Clem once said, “is not just within the walls of the congregation, but…the life and community in which our congregation resides.” (Applause.) (Applause.) As our brothers and sisters in the AME church know, we don't make those distinctions. But the person who asked probably didn’t know the history of the AME church. No wonder one of his senate colleagues remembered Senator Pinckney as “the most gentle of the 46 of us - the best of the 46 of us.”Ĭlem was often asked why he chose to be a pastor and a public servant. He was full of empathy and fellow feeling, able to walk in somebody else’s shoes and see through their eyes. He encouraged progress not by pushing his ideas alone, but by seeking out your ideas, partnering with you to make things happen. He conducted himself quietly, and kindly, and diligently. Reverend Pinckney embodied a politics that was neither mean, nor small. There he would fortify his faith, and imagine what might be. After a full day at the capitol, he’d climb into his car and head to the church to draw sustenance from his family, from his ministry, from the community that loved and needed him. His calls for greater equity were too often unheeded, the votes he cast were sometimes lonely. ![]() His position in the minority party meant the odds of winning more resources for his constituents were often long. A place still wracked by poverty and inadequate schools a place where children can still go hungry and the sick can go without treatment. He did not exhibit any of the cockiness of youth, nor youth’s insecurities instead, he set an example worthy of his position, wise beyond his years, in his speech, in his conduct, in his love, faith, and purity.Īs a senator, he represented a sprawling swath of the Lowcountry, a place that has long been one of the most neglected in America. He was in the pulpit by 13, pastor by 18, public servant by 23. Clem heard their instruction, and he did not forsake their teaching. He was the progeny of a long line of the faithful - a family of preachers who spread God’s word, a family of protesters who sowed change to expand voting rights and desegregate the South. (Laughter.) The first thing I noticed was his graciousness, his smile, his reassuring baritone, his deceptive sense of humor - all qualities that helped him wear so effortlessly a heavy burden of expectation.įriends of his remarked this week that when Clementa Pinckney entered a room, it was like the future arrived that even from a young age, folks knew he was special. (Laughter.) Back when I didn’t have visible grey hair. ![]() But I did have the pleasure of knowing him and meeting him here in South Carolina, back when we were both a little bit younger. I cannot claim to have the good fortune to know Reverend Pinckney well. To Jennifer, his beloved wife to Eliana and Malana, his beautiful, wonderful daughters to the Mother Emanuel family and the people of Charleston, the people of South Carolina. A man of service who persevered, knowing full well he would not receive all those things he was promised, because he believed his efforts would deliver a better life for those who followed. A man who believed there were better days ahead, off in the distance. We are here today to remember a man of God who lived by faith. “They did not receive the things promised they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on Earth.” “They were still living by faith when they died,” Scripture tells us. ![]() To persevere, and have faith in things not seen. THE PRESIDENT: Giving all praise and honor to God.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |