Transcription of a very moving lecture I attended this week.

Allowables
-Nikki Giovanni

I killed a spider
Not a murderous brown recluse
Nor even a black widow
And if the truth were told this
Was only a small
Sort of papery spider
Who should have run
When I picked up the book
But she didn't
And she scared me
And I smashed her

I don't think
I'm allowed

To kill something

Because I am

Frightened

Giovanni's simple poem served as the focus of a very powerful lecture that gave an implicit, yet veiled, insight into present national and world-wide conditions..

But I'm compelled to be right up front and tell you that it was delivered as a sermon in the church I attend and feel very comfortable in although I consider myself to be an agnostic atheist – truly I guess a humanist.

And regardless of what your view of "church/mosque/synagogue" going might be, I hope you'll follow the leads below, take 20 minutes to give the talk a listen.  It's the sermon for Sunday, October 2.

I'm sorry it does not include the very moving and nontraditional "songs".

Pete Seeger's, "If I Had A Hammer" 
Elvis Costello's "(What's So Funny ''Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding"
"Bright Morning Star" with Cantor and choir and

The traditional Afro-American spiritual, "There Is More Love Somewhere"

Here's the link ;


http://www.all-souls.org/past-sermons