For a couple hours on this Sunday afternoon before MLK day 1/2 a million people tried to think higher thoughts.

  My family started out huddled in the crowd squinting to read the giant T.V. screens.  We we're focused on Mary J.Blidge and James Taylor- wondering who would be next on stage.   

     But then we started looking around and chatting with the people next to us- black folks from D.C.,  white folks from Oregon, brown folks from New York and my mom says, "It's been a long time!!"  And this black lady next to her echoes, "Yes, it has,  a long, long time."   My mother says, "What a long 8 years it's been."   The woman replies, "It's been a lot longer than that." 

     Then we all went back to singing "Shower the people you love with love."   And the teenagers behind us started everyone swaying.."to the left, c'mon everyone back to the right."   

     A huddled mass of strangers became a family singing kumbaya.     True story.    And everyone was sober.   

      This wasn't a drug induced,  free-wheeling hippie love fest.   This was men in business suits and old lady's in fur coats and gay men with their two year olds all swaying together.   And then came the grand finale...  

     When Pete Seeger, the timeless hippie, started signing "This Land is Your Land" people started holding hands and lifted them up to the air as we sang.   Have you ever been to a rock concert where everyone held hands at the end?   

      I didn't miss church service today afterall.    

     And this time, Sunday service was not the most segregated hour in America.   

  The openly gay Episcopalian minister, Gene Robinson, ministered to the crowd with words of action. "Bless us with anger- at discrimination at home an abroad."  "Bless us with patience...."   

  A beautiful counter-point to Rick Warren's invocation on Tuesday which will no doubt avoid mention of gay discrimination- and the absurdity of the military glee club not allowing gay men to sing in their choir.

  So we aren't perfect- and neither was the national church service- as the awkward bald eagle moment reminded us.  

  But we are getting better. 

  You should be proud,

  Kenna StormoGipson