http://www.austinuu.org/wp At First UU Church of Austin, we gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:05:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 As an inclusive religious and spiritual community, we support each individual's search for meaning and purpose, and join together to help create a world filled with compassion and love. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin webmaster@austinuu.org webmaster@austinuu.org (First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin) 2000-2009 At First UU Church of Austin, we gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice. http://www.austinuu.org/wp/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://www.austinuu.org/wp/category/uncategorized/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2009/12/bryan-and-the-social-darwinists/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2009/12/bryan-and-the-social-darwinists/#comments Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:56:57 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=2982 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2009/12/bryan-and-the-social-darwinists/feed/ 0 - - - William Jennings Bryant and the Social Darwinists - Gary Bennett December 27, 2009 First UU Church of Austin 4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756 www.austinuu.org - Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button. - Reading - BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN, William Jennings Bryant and the Social Darwinists Gary Bennett December 27, 2009 First UU Church of Austin 4700 Grover Ave., Austin, TX 78756 www.austinuu.org Listen to the sermon by clicking the play button. Reading BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN, BRYAN - Vachel Lindsay In a nation of one hundred fine, mob-hearted, lynching, relenting, repenting, millions, There are plenty of sweeping, swinging, stinging, gorgeous things to shout about, And knock your old blue devils out. I brag and chant of Bryan, Bryan, Bryan Candidate for president who sketched a silver Zion, The one American Poet who could sing outdoors, He brought in tides of wonder, of unprecedented splendor, Wild roses from the plains, that made hearts tender, All the funny circus silks Of politics unfurled, Bartlett pears of romance that were honey at the cores, And torchlights down the street, to the end of the world. There were truths eternal in the gab and tittle-tattle. There were real heads broken in the fustian and the rattle. There were real lines drawn: Not the silver and the gold, But Nebraska's cry went eastward against the dour and old, The mean and cold. It was eighteen ninety-six, and I was just sixteen And Altgeld ruled in Springfield, Illinois, When there came from the sunset Nebraska's shout of joy: In a coat like a deacon, in a black Stetson hat He scourged the elephant plutocrats With barbed wire from the Platte. The scales dropped from their mighty eyes. They saw that summer's noon A tribe of wonders coming To a marching tune. Oh, the longhorns from Texas, The jay hawks from Kansas, The plop-eyed bungaroo and giant giassicus, The varmint, chipmunk, bugaboo, The horned-toad, prairie-dog and ballyhoo, From all the newborn states arow, Bidding the eagles of the west fly on, Bidding the eagles of the west fly on. The fawn, prodactyl and thing-a-ma-jig, The rakaboor, the hellangone, The whangadoodle, batfowl and pig, The coyote, wild-cat and grizzly in a glow, In a miracle of health and speed, the whole breed abreast, The leaped the Mississippi, blue border of the West, From the Gulf to Canada, two thousand miles long:- Against the towns of Tubal Cain, too cunning for the young, The longhorn calf, the buffalo and wampus gave tongue,. These creatures were defending things Mark Hanna never dreamed: The moods of airy childhood that in desert dews gleamed, The gossamers and whimsies, The monkeyshines and didoes Rank and strange Of the canyons and the range, The ultimate fantastics Of the far western slope, And of prairie schooner children Born beneath the stars, Beneath falling snows, Of the babies born at midnight In the sod huts of lost hope, With no physician there, Except a Kansas prayer, With the Indian raid a howling through the air. And all these in their helpless days By the dour East oppressed, Mean paternalism Making their mistakes for them, Crucifying half the West, Till the whole Atlantic coast Seemed a giant spiders' nest. And these children and their sons At last rode through the cactus, A cliff of mighty cowboys On the lope, With gun and rope. And all the way to frightened Maine the old East heard them call, And saw our Bryan by a mile lead the wall Of men and whirling flowers and beasts, The bard and the prophet of them all. Prairie avenger, mountain lion, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Bryan, Gigantic troubadour, speaking like a siege gun, Smashing Plymouth Rock with his boulders from the West, And just a hundred miles behind, tornadoes piled across the sky, Blotting out sun and moon, A sign on high. Headlong, dazed and blinking in the weird green light, The scalawags made to moan, Afraid to fight. II When Bryan came to Springfield, and Altgeld gave him greeting, Rochester was deserted, Divernon was deserted, Mechanicsburg, Riverton, Chickenbristle, Cotton Hill, Empty: for all Sangamon drove to the meeting- First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no 36:06 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2009/02/bridgebuilder-workshop/ http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2009/02/bridgebuilder-workshop/#comments Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:28:58 +0000 tom http://www.austinuu.org/wp/?p=2516 http://www.austinuu.org/wp/2009/02/bridgebuilder-workshop/feed/ 0 Dr. Peter Steinke February, 28, 2009 - Text of this workshop is not available but you can listen to Dr. Steinke's comments by clicking on the play button. Comments by individuals attending the workshop are not being posted. Dr. Peter Steinke February, 28, 2009 Text of this workshop is not available but you can listen to Dr. Steinke's comments by clicking on the play button. Comments by individuals attending the workshop are not being posted. A DVD of the whole workshop  is available at the church bookstore. First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin no