Robert T. Young - "A Story of Logs and Specks" (July 27, 1975)

Download
- Rights
- Limited Re-Use
  Educational Use Permitted
  More Rights Info
- Files (1)
- MP3
- Please be patient with media downloads. They are often large files.
Share

Embed Code
<iframe src='//idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4mg7kx27?embed=true' height='125px' width='100%' frameborder='0' marginwidth='0' marginheight='0' scrolling='no' allowfullscreen></iframe>
Permalink

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4mg7kx27
Skip to Item Info

Loading the media player...

Files for this Item

Transcript

Transcripts may contain inaccuracies.

	(mid-tempo organ music)	0:04
	(light upbeat organ music)	1:52
	(fast upbeat organ music)	3:11
	(slow organ music)	4:33
	(fast upbeat organ music)	6:04
	(fast upbeat organ music continues)	7:48
	(mid-tempo organ music)	9:02
-	[Preacher Maurice] Almighty God, whose glory	11:25
	the heavens are telling,	11:28
	whose power the earth and sea declare	11:30
	and whose greatness is revealed in all feeling	11:33
	and thinking creatures everywhere.	11:36
	To thee, belong glory, honor,	11:40
	dominion and power, now and forever,	11:42
	world without in.	11:47
	Amen.	11:50
	(mid-tempo organ music)	11:52
	(choir vocalizing)	12:25
	Remembering that scripture admonishes us,	14:54
	that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.	14:58
	Let us bow to confess our sins	15:03
	first, personally,	15:07
	and finally in unison.	15:10
	Let us confess in unison.	15:46
-	[Preacher Maurice and Congregation] God, we acknowledge	15:50
	and confess before you,	15:52
	our little faith, our lack of vision,	15:55
	our many sins against your law	15:59
	and your mercy in our daily relationships,	16:03
	the sin of knowing your word and not living it	16:07
	with boldness and passion.	16:11
	Our laziness, wasting of time	16:14
	and neglect of our opportunities.	16:18
	Our failure, gladly to accept and use the gifts	16:21
	you have given us.	16:25
	Our abuse of our privileged position,	16:28
	our lack of watchfulness of ourselves and of others.	16:32
	Our failure to pray faithfully and regularly,	16:37
	and to expect great things from you.	16:41
	Our blindness to the needs of others	16:45
	who are sick, poor, anxious,	16:48
	lonely or in despair,	16:52
	our spiritual arrogance and pride.	16:55
	We confess to you, oh God,	16:59
	that we have sinned in thought, word and deed,	17:02
	through our grievous thoughts.	17:07
	And we pray you to have mercy upon us.	17:10
-	[Preacher Maurice] Hear these words of assurance	17:16
	as we find them recorded in Holy Scripture,	17:17
	our Lord said,	17:23
	"Him who comes to me,	17:24
	I will in no wise cast out."	17:26
	And in 1 John: "If we confess our sins,	17:31
	He is faithful and just,	17:36
	and will forgive our sins and cleanse us	17:39
	from all unrighteousness.	17:42
	(slow organ music)	17:49
	(choir vocalizing)	18:21
	(choir singing Hallelujah)	20:04
	Our morning lesson is a gospel lesson from St. Matthew:	21:06
	"Judge not that you be not judged.	21:12
	For with a judgment you pronounce, you will be judged.	21:16
	And the measure you give will be the measure you get.	21:21
	Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye?	21:27
	But do not notice the log that is in your own eye?	21:31
	Or how can you say to your brother,	21:36
	'Let me take the speck out of your eye.'	21:38
	when there is the log in your own eye?	21:42
	You hypocrite, first take log out of your own eye	21:46
	and then you will see clearly	21:52
	to take the speck out of your brother's eye.	21:54
	Do not give dogs what is holy	21:58
	and do not throw your pearls before swine,	22:01
	lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you.	22:05
	Ask and it will be given you,	22:10
	seek and you will find,	22:14
	knock and it will be open to you,	22:17
	for everyone who asks, receives.	22:22
	And he who seeks, finds.	22:26
	And to him who knocks, it will be opened.	22:29
	Or what man of you, if his son ask him for a loaf,	22:33
	will give him a stone?	22:37
	Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent.	22:39
	If you then, who are evil,	22:44
	know how to give good gifts to your children,	22:47
	how much more will your Father who is in Heaven	22:51
	give good things to those who ask him.	22:54
	So whatever you wish that men would do to you,	22:58
	do so to them,	23:03
	for this is the Law and the Prophets.	23:05
	And here ends the reading of the morning lesson.	23:11
	(mid-tempo organ music)	23:15
	(choir vocalizing)	23:25
	Let us corporately confess our faith.	23:59
-	[Preacher Maurice and Congregation] We are not alone.	24:03
	We live in God's world.	24:05
	We believe in God, who has created and is creating,	24:08
	who has come in the truly human Jesus	24:13
	to reconcile and make new.	24:16
	Who works in us and others through the spirit.	24:20
	We trust God.	24:24
	Who calls us to be the Church,	24:26
	to celebrate life and its fullness,	24:28
	to love and serve others,	24:32
	to seek justice and resist evil,	24:35
	to proclaim Jesus crucified and risen,	24:38
	our Judge and our Hope,	24:42
	in life, in death, in life beyond death,	24:44
	God is with us.	24:49
	We are not alone.	24:51
	Thanks be to God.	24:53
	The Lord be with you.	24:58
	Let us pray.	25:02
-	[Preacher Maurice] Lord of Heaven and Earth,	25:17
	we thank thee for the seasons of the year.	25:19
	Especially for summer,	25:24
	when great clouds rise in the sky	25:27
	and drop their rain to quench the thirst of a dry earth.	25:30
	When heat hangs over the earth in a white haze of steam	25:37
	only to be relieved by a violent and boisterous storm.	25:42
	When gardens and orchards remind us again	25:50
	of the sweetness and goodness of the earth.	25:53
	Lord of Heaven and Earth,	25:59
	we thank thee for seasons and the goodness of the earth.	26:02
	So teach us to number our days	26:08
	that we may see the Earth's goodness and may love it	26:11
	as the rich treasure and gift that it is.	26:16
	We thank thee Lord for the creatures of the earth,	26:23
	for creeping and crawling things,	26:28
	for fellow animals.	26:32
	We thank thee especially for humankind	26:37
	and its marvelous and wonderful diversity	26:39
	of skin and habit and habitat.	26:42
	Lord, we lament our inability to appreciate	26:49
	and love each other in our diversity.	26:53
	Teach us so to number our days that we may be liberated	26:57
	from slavery to our own kind,	27:01
	that we may love and enjoy humankind	27:05
	and its wonderful diversity.	27:09
	Lord of Heaven and Earth,	27:15
	we thank thee for the treasures of the earth.	27:16
	We are particularly grateful	27:21
	for the treasure called Duke University.	27:23
	For the treasure of the various areas of study,	27:28
	the treasure of a vast and wonderful library.	27:33
	For the aesthetic treasure of the campus in general	27:39
	and this chapel in particular.	27:42
	How easily, Lord, we are blinded	27:46
	by our own immersion in ourselves,	27:49
	how easily we miss the treasures of this place,	27:55
	the seasons of the year,	27:59
	the creatures of the earth.	28:02
	Lord, we pray that in this service of worship and praise,	28:06
	our lives may be so open	28:11
	that we may become more fully one of Earth's treasures,	28:13
	calling others to the fullness of life	28:18
	that we have found only as we participate in thy life	28:21
	and in the life of the world.	28:26
	We make our prayer in the name	28:31
	of Jesus Christ, our Lord,	28:35
	and with him and his disciples in all the Saints,	28:37
	we pray now the prayer he taught us, saying,	28:41
	"Our Father, who art in Heaven,	28:44
	hallowed be Thy name.	28:48
	Thy kingdom come.	28:50
	Thy will be done on earth,	28:52
	as it is in heaven.	28:55
	Give us this day our daily bread	28:57
	and forgive us our trespasses,	29:00
	as we forgive those who trespass against us.	29:02
	And lead us not into temptation,	29:06
	but deliver us from evil.	29:09
	For thine is the kingdom and the power	29:11
	and the glory forever and ever."	29:15
	Amen.	29:18
	I remind you of one announcement in the bulletin,	29:24
	which pertains to a service of celebration	29:30
	in commemoration of the first anniversary	29:34
	of the ordination of 11 Episcopal women	29:38
	in Philadelphia last year.	29:41
	The service is here at 7:30 PM	29:44
	in the chapel on Tuesday.	29:46
	Our preacher for the morning is no stranger to us.	29:51
	The Reverend Robert Young, Minister to the university.	29:55
Reverend Young	In the name of God, Creator, Sustainer	30:12
	and Redeemer.	30:17
	Amen.	30:18
	Keith Watkins,	30:23
	in a very insightful little book	30:28
	of his entitled 'Liturgies in a Time When Cities Burn'	30:30
	refers to an experience in a novel by Jessamyn West,	30:37
	as he writes,	30:40
	"In a California home, two middle-aged sisters	30:43
	spend the summer waiting for one of them to die of cancer.	30:46
	During the weeks of waiting, they reconstruct their lives,	30:52
	remembering all that had passed between them	30:56
	during the years since the first had held her infant sister	30:59
	in her arms.	31:04
	In all of these experiences, there is no religion.	31:06
	For the family's Pilgrim faith had disappeared	31:11
	in their grandmother's generation,	31:15
	leaving only a shell of what had once been	31:18
	their people's basic wisdom.	31:20
	At bedtime though, these two women do have a ritual	31:24
	of a sort, a rhythmic stroking of fragrant grease	31:27
	into their faces as their mother	31:31
	and their grandmother before them had done.	31:34
	At bedtime, they were bound to the past,	31:37
	not by memories of prayer said or Bible stories read,	31:40
	but by memories of devotions of another kind.	31:45
	Face creams	31:49
	hold these generations together."	31:51
	Face creams hold the generations together.	31:57
	But you know my friends and I know	32:03
	that it takes more than face cream	32:05
	to hold the generations together,	32:07
	to hold all of us together.	32:09
	It takes all of the love, acceptance, understanding,	32:11
	caring, giving, receiving, sharing,	32:15
	coming, going, holding, walking with	32:18
	that we can possibly muster	32:21
	and often even much more than we can muster.	32:23
	You know what I think it really takes from all of us	32:27
	and from all of those around us?	32:29
	Just what a friend of mine said had on one occasion	32:31
	when he was in a group.	32:34
	And the group was asked to share	32:35
	with all others in the group,	32:37
	what do you think is the greatest force in the world today?	32:39
	And this friend of mine said when it came his turn	32:44
	in the group, said,	32:46
	"I believe that unjudging love	32:47
	is the greatest force in the world today."	32:51
	Unjudging love.	32:56
	That's what it's all about.	33:00
	Life, that is.	33:03
	It was St. Augustine who said once,	33:05
	"Love God and do whatever you will."	33:07
	And what I think among other things he was meaning was	33:12
	that if you love God, primarily,	33:15
	totally, wholly,	33:17
	fully, freely,	33:19
	then feel free to do whatever you will	33:21
	because your life will be whole and true	33:25
	and authentic and real.	33:27
	I think also we can then say,	33:31
	love your neighbor	33:33
	and do whatever you want to,	33:35
	to him or to her.	33:37
	No matter what you do,	33:40
	if love for your neighbor is primary and basic,	33:41
	then you can do that neighbor no harm.	33:45
	You and your neighbor.	33:50
	If you love him or her, then you can criticize him,	33:53
	but not damage him.	33:58
	You can talk to her, but not be destructive of her.	34:00
	You can be with him, tough with her,	34:04
	mean to him, harsh with her.	34:07
	You can get angry with him.	34:09
	You can disagree with her.	34:10
	You can even fight with him,	34:12
	but you cannot harm him or destroy her	34:14
	if there is real, basic love	34:16
	for your neighbor.	34:19
	But for most of us,	34:23
	love is not always present,	34:26
	judgment of my neighbor usually is.	34:31
	Being judgemental appears to be	34:36
	almost inevitable.	34:40
	Being judgemental seems to be part and parcel of life,	34:43
	but let's be sure of this though,	34:51
	that when we are judgemental of other persons,	34:53
	we are not loving.	34:57
	It is just not possible.	35:01
	When we do judge another,	35:05
	let's not fool ourselves and say,	35:06
	oh, I'm doing it out of concern for him or her,	35:09
	for his or her own good.	35:12
	Let's be honest enough to admit that we are not doing it out	35:13
	of love, as we often try to say.	35:17
	Being judgemental is simply drawing conclusions	35:20
	about another person or about another group of persons,	35:22
	which we have absolutely no right to draw.	35:26
	Oh, but how we love to judge others.	35:31
	It comes so easy that we feel it's natural.	35:33
	It's the way things are supposed to be,	35:36
	but our Lord Jesus said in the passage,	35:38
	which Maurice read,	35:40
	"Judge not that you be not judged.	35:42
	For with the judgment that you pronounce,	35:46
	you will be judged.	35:48
	And the measure you give will be the measure you receive."	35:49
	Why do you see that speck?	35:53
	That little bitty that is in your neighbor's eye,	35:55
	but do not notice that big log,	35:58
	which is in your own eye.	36:00
	Or how can you say to your brother,	36:02
	"Brother, let me take that speck out of your eye."	36:05
	when there is a big log in your own eye.	36:08
	Oh, you hypocrite,	36:11
	first take the log out of your own eye.	36:13
	And then you can see clearly to take	36:16
	that little bitty speck out of your neighbor's eye.	36:18
	So this is a story of logs and specks.	36:21
	In this passage, we see one example, among others	36:27
	in the New Testament of the humor of Jesus,	36:31
	who in the world ever got a log in his eye?	36:34
	Did you ever see anyone with a log in his eye?	36:38
	Did you ever get a log,	36:41
	you got something in there that felt like a log I'm sure.	36:42
	But did you ever really get a log in your eye?	36:45
	No.	36:48
	Now I'm sure that a log in Jesus' day	36:49
	was probably only about six feet long	36:52
	and no heavier than one person could carry.	36:55
	Nothing like our massive timbers,	36:58
	which we cut into logs today,	37:00
	but still whoever heard of getting a six foot piece	37:01
	of timber in your eye?	37:04
	Jesus was being funny.	37:06
	Funny.	37:09
	But funny to get a point across.	37:10
	Sure, this was a figure of speech.	37:12
	It was hyperbole. It was gross exaggeration.	37:14
	But the reality of the story of logs and specks	37:17
	shows the insight that Jesus had into human nature,	37:21
	yours and mine.	37:25
	For Jesus knew that we as human beings	37:27
	would see little specks in other people	37:29
	and we'd think they were logs.	37:32
	We'd see specks in other people like 'blacks are lazy'	37:34
	or 'blacks smell' and not see the log in our own eyes.	37:38
	I am prejudiced.	37:43
	Or we'd see specks like 'white trash have no initiative'	37:46
	and not see our own log.	37:52
	I am unconcerned.	37:54
	Or we see all kinds of specks in them,	37:56
	in other people,	38:02
	intellectuals are eggheads,	38:03
	poor folks are ignorant.	38:06
	The well dressed are just showing off,	38:08
	a big car and a fancy house,	38:10
	mean that those people don't care.	38:11
	Those who protest against the government are unpatriotic.	38:14
	Those who support the government are super patriots.	38:17
	One is radical, the other reactionary.	38:19
	All politicians are crooked.	38:22
	Young people can't be trusted.	38:25
	Parents don't care, they are out to get me.	38:27
	They don't understand.	38:30
	Girls are silly. Boys are rude.	38:31
	Oh, God help us.	38:33
	How easy it is to be judgmental.	38:36
	But some strange things happen to us	38:41
	when we are judgemental.	38:44
	What are some of those?	38:45
	Being judgmental of other persons elevates me	38:49
	and belittles my neighbor.	38:52
	When I raise myself to be judge over my neighbors,	38:56
	we are no longer brothers and sisters	38:59
	for I am pretending that I am better than they.	39:02
	And for the satisfaction of feeling good about myself	39:05
	and of raising myself,	39:08
	I have belittled and destroyed my fellow human being	39:09
	and that, my friends, is a costly price to pay.	39:13
	Any person who establishes his own goodness and bigness	39:20
	by belittling his neighbor	39:24
	is no real person at all.	39:27
	He's a hypocrite.	39:30
	He's got a log in his eye and he is looking	39:32
	at a speck in his neighbor's eye.	39:34
	Something else happens.	39:38
	Being judgemental often helps me	39:40
	to evade the real issue before me.	39:42
	When I can be judgemental about another person	39:45
	and about that person's behavior,	39:48
	that person, that man, or woman,	39:49
	or boy or girl, that person's ways and words	39:51
	and attitudes and values and cares and objectives.	39:54
	When I'm always looking at another,	39:57
	then that relieves me of the need for examining	40:00
	and evaluating my own ways and words	40:02
	and attitudes and values and cares and objectives.	40:05
	Or when I am judgmental of groups,	40:10
	this gives me a way out from really searching my soul	40:13
	about an individual person within that group.	40:17
	If I believe that all blacks are dirty,	40:21
	smelly, lazy.	40:24
	Yeah.	40:27
	Then I don't have to face the question	40:29
	of what is my relation	40:31
	to a particular individual black person	40:32
	nor do I have to face the fact that I too may be dirty,	40:36
	smelly or lazy or something worse.	40:39
	Or if I judge all young people by saying	40:45
	that all students are either wild or carefree	40:47
	or indifferent youth,	40:50
	then I don't have to look at each young person as a unique,	40:53
	valuable, important human being and child of God.	40:56
	Or if I think about all young persons now,	41:01
	and some of 'em aren't so young anymore	41:04
	who are in Canada or in Europe who evaded the draft	41:06
	or refused to go to war rather than fight	41:10
	in Vietnam and think of them as unpatriotic cowards	41:12
	then I don't have to consider the real	41:17
	and perhaps justifiable reasons	41:19
	for which some of them are where they are.	41:22
	Or if I say that all feminists	41:25
	or all 'women's libbers'	41:28
	are just frustrated women who can't find a husband	41:32
	or that they are all women who happen to be married	41:36
	but want to get out,	41:40
	then I don't have to look honestly at the real abilities	41:42
	and the needs and potentialities	41:47
	of any one individual woman.	41:49
	Or when some people don't act like we want them to,	41:53
	or when they've done something that we don't like,	41:57
	or that we think is wrong,	41:59
	or they've made a mistake or have failed,	42:01
	and we judge them and we put them in a box	42:03
	and we leave them in that box and they stay there	42:05
	as far as we're concerned	42:07
	forever and ever, and ever.	42:08
	You see, being judgment gives us an escape	42:13
	from reality	42:19
	and from the responsibility of seeing,	42:21
	really seeing our neighbors and ourselves.	42:23
	Because when I judge another,	42:26
	I no longer see that person nor do I see myself	42:28
	because there's a log in my eye	42:31
	and I'm looking for a speck in his or hers.	42:33
	Jesus says here, "Take that log out of your eye."	42:37
	This means, I think, look first at yourself.	42:42
	The log may really be so big in my eye	42:47
	that I can't even see it,	42:50
	I'm not even aware of it.	42:51
	That is possible.	42:52
	But if I really look at myself	42:55
	and judge myself by God's standards of love	42:56
	and justice and mercy,	42:59
	that may be just as far as I'll ever get.	43:00
	I may judge no one else on the face of this earth.	43:03
	If I really search my own soul,	43:06
	I may be like the man praying in the temple	43:08
	who all he could say was God be merciful unto me, a sinner.	43:10
	What I see when I look in my own eye,	43:19
	may be so difficult to get out	43:20
	that I'll never really have time to look	43:22
	at my neighbor's faults and failures.	43:24
	How can I see another's faults?	43:28
	When, if I'm honest,	43:31
	who I am, won't let me judge somebody else.	43:32
	Or one thing is for sure,	43:38
	if I have looked in and have removed the log	43:40
	from my own eye and I go to pick the speck	43:43
	out of my neighbor's eye, then I can do so,	43:46
	as Jesus says, clearly with clear vision.	43:49
	At least I will be able to see that this is my brother	43:53
	or that this is my sister.	43:56
	And if I realize that this person is a brother or a sister,	43:59
	if I can see and believe,	44:02
	if I can see and believe that this too is a child of God,	44:04
	I may refuse to be judgemental and go no further.	44:07
	In other words,	44:12
	what may appear to me at one point in time	44:13
	to be an object	44:16
	about whom I may want to be judgemental,	44:20
	may soon become a subject	44:22
	one with whom I can share	44:25
	and care about life.	44:28
	Or when we are judgemental,	44:32
	this separates us from others	44:34
	and closes off any possibility	44:36
	of real communication or love.	44:40
	For when we judge, we also reject.	44:43
	As a matter of fact,	44:48
	I'm not sure that we have the ability or sensitivity	44:49
	of conscience or insight to judge without rejecting.	44:52
	My friends,	44:58
	may I say that judgment is for God	45:01
	and not for us humans.	45:07
	Not at least for Christians.	45:10
	Suppose just for a moment that you and I had been judging	45:14
	some of those whose stories are told	45:17
	in the Old Testament and the New Testament.	45:18
	Would you want your brother or sister or son or daughter	45:21
	to be seen with the youthful Moses?	45:24
	Not the image you have of Moses, but Moses,	45:28
	the young man you remember, Moses was the young man,	45:30
	the young Hebrew who killed the Egyptian slave master.	45:33
	Or would you invite David to go hunting with you	45:39
	or have him over to your house for dinner in the evening?	45:41
	David, you remember was the man who ordered a soldier	45:47
	to the front lines,	45:50
	saw that that soldier was killed	45:52
	so that he could sleep with that man's wife, remember?	45:53
	Would you want to have Lot over to spend the night	46:00
	at your house?	46:02
	Lot, you remember was the man whose daughter slept with him	46:05
	and with whom he committed incest.	46:07
	Or would you let Peter join your church?	46:12
	Because to join a church,	46:15
	one must affirm a belief in Jesus Christ.	46:17
	And yet Peter three different times said,	46:19
	I never knew the man. I don't know him.	46:21
	I had nothing at all to do with him.	46:23
	Or would you walk down the street with Mary Magdalene?	46:27
	A woman whom Jesus befriended and loved.	46:31
	For you see, Mary Magdalene was known	46:35
	as the village prostitute.	46:37
	The village whore.	46:40
	Judgment belongs not to you nor to me,	46:44
	but to God and God loved each one of these persons.	46:46
	And God loves every person and will be willing	46:51
	to love anybody who is outside a meaningful relationship	46:54
	with him, right back in into a loving,	46:58
	caring, sustaining relationship.	47:01
	Judgment begins,	47:05
	scripture says,	47:07
	"With the household of God."	47:10
	Not by.	47:14
	And there's a world of difference.	47:17
	Judgment begins with us	47:20
	who are a part of the household of God.	47:23
	It does not begin by us to others.	47:25
	Once we come under the Lordship of Christ,	47:31
	we can no longer judge others	47:33
	because we're to love all persons,	47:37
	to love our neighbors, yes.	47:40
	To love our enemies, yes.	47:42
	To love even those who persecute us, yes.	47:45
	We can no longer judge others	47:50
	because we too are in need of grace.	47:53
	Not judgment.	47:58
	We too are guilty.	48:01
	This is the story of logs and specks.	48:05
	All of us have so something in our eye,	48:10
	our lives, our ways,	48:13
	our attitudes, our behavior,	48:16
	all of us have something in us that needs God's grace.	48:19
	There is real freedom and release that come	48:25
	in not judging my neighbor.	48:30
	Real freedom and release come	48:34
	when I see myself to be just like him or like her.	48:37
	When I judge my neighbor,	48:42
	I put him in prison or I put her in prison	48:44
	and I put myself there.	48:46
	But when I identify with my neighbor,	48:49
	we both begin to be free	48:53
	under the grace of God,	48:56
	sort of like this contemporary parable	48:59
	of a young man named Hymie.	49:02
	Hymie had been dragged off to prison,	49:06
	kicking and screaming.	49:07
	For the 755th time at least,	49:10
	he shouted, "I'm innocent",	49:13
	as the cell door slam shut.	49:16
	And for weeks afterwards, he screamed about his innocence.	49:18
	He wrote letters to the governor,	49:22
	claiming his innocence and gloated with glee	49:23
	over the chagrin that the governor would feel	49:26
	when finally he would have to admit Hymie's innocence	49:28
	and let him go.	49:32
	He wrote his senators and his representatives	49:33
	and he screamed about his innocence.	49:36
	He had been there almost a year and he was still screaming	49:38
	and writing about how innocent he was.	49:42
	And after about a year, one day,	49:48
	he walked over to the window and looked out	49:50
	and saw the sunshine, the flowers,	49:53
	the birds, and the green grass.	49:56
	And it was too much for Hymie	49:58
	because everything was growing.	50:00
	Everything was free, but him, he was trapped.	50:02
	Finally, he threw his letters to the floor	50:05
	and he fell down on his bed,	50:07
	it was almost dark and supper was being served.	50:08
	"Here you go, Mr. Innocent,"	50:12
	the turnkey in the door said,	50:15
	as Hymie's tray came through the slot in the door.	50:17
	"I'm not innocent," Hymie finally croaked,	50:20
	weary with it all.	50:23
	"I'm guilty, guilty as hell."	50:24
	"What did you say?" the turnkey asked,	50:31
	strangely excited, holding its breath	50:35
	to get the soft answer.	50:38
	"Guilty!" Hymie said, "guilty."	50:40
	And immediately,	50:44
	there was a rattling of the key in the lock.	50:47
	And when Hymie raised his head,	50:49
	the door didn't look right.	50:51
	When he got up, the door swung opened broadly	50:53
	into the dusky deserted corridor	50:56
	and peeping timidly down the corridor,	50:59
	Hymie saw that other gates were opening	51:01
	all the way out to the front gate.	51:04
	There was still enough sunlight left to give a him a glimpse	51:08
	of the greening grass	51:11
	and the blooming buds and the shining sun beyond.	51:14
	You see, when I claim I am innocent	51:24
	and you are guilty,	51:28
	this imprisons you and me.	51:31
	We are all boxed in.	51:35
	But when I accept and admit my guilt,	51:38
	we both are free	51:41
	for neither of us is really innocent,	51:44
	say by the grace of God.	51:48
	When I am guilty and accepted	51:53
	then my young or old or intellectual	51:57
	or black or poor or ignorant or dirty	52:01
	or stinking brother or sister and I	52:04
	can begin to be free together.	52:09
	It takes more than face creams	52:15
	to hold the generations together.	52:19
	I believe that unjudging love	52:24
	is the greatest force in the world today.	52:29
	Amen.	52:37
	Amen.	52:39
	(mid-tempo organ music)	52:46
	(choir vocalizing)	53:15
	(slow organ music)	55:21
	(upbeat organ music)	57:12
	(choir vocalizing)	57:51
	(upbeat organ music continues)	59:20
	(choir vocalizing)	59:29
-	[Preacher Maurice] The fullness of the earth is thine,	1:02:40
	oh Lord,	1:02:42
	but ours too, thanks to your graciousness	1:02:44
	As we receive something of you and your gifts	1:02:48
	may these gifts we now bring to thee convey something	1:02:52
	of our very lives,	1:02:55
	both to you, our Creator,	1:02:57
	and to humankind, our fellow creatures.	1:03:00
	Amen.	1:03:04
	(mid-tempo organ music)	1:03:07
	(choir vocalizing)	1:03:10
	The Lord bless you and keep you.	1:06:33
	The Lord make his face to shine upon you	1:06:37
	and be gracious to you.	1:06:39
	The Lord lift up his countenance upon you	1:06:43
	and give you peace today and forever.	1:06:47
	(choir vocalizing)	1:06:55
	(fast upbeat organ music)	1:07:52
	(choir vocalizing)	1:11:06

Item Info

Title:

Robert T. Young - "A Story of Logs and Specks" (July 27, 1975)

Permalink:

https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/r4mg7kx27

Date:

July 27, 1975

Speaker:

Young, Robert T., 1935-2009

Contributor:

Duke University. Chapel

Identifier:

UA.17.01.0003 RR-0784
ref6768_a4u
uachapelsermaud
duke:628181
dcrau002749
ark:/87924/r4mg7kx27
78e0467f-81fa-4a6a-813c-f97c2d5ccc7c

Digital Collection:

Duke Chapel Recordings

Source Collection:

Duke University Chapel recordings

Related Resources:

See below

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.

Sponsor:

Sponsor this Digital Collection

Robert T. Young - "A Story of Logs and Specks" (July 27, 1975)

Transcript

Item Info

Related Item

Duke University Archives