♪ >> sandra: a live look at the historic ebenezer baptist church in atlanta where family and friends are about to say their final goodbyes to a civil rights legend. today's funeral capping off several events on the range on the west. ebenezer baptist church is a perfect choice for the iconic fighter for black equality which is located in atlanta's sweet auburn district. he attended ebenezer, got married there and listen to sermons from his good friend of martin luther king jr. good morning everyone and welcome back, i'm sandra smith. >> trace: i'm trace gallagher. this is a special presentation. we have been watching the arrivals of the church of former president bill clinton and george w. bush will speak, barack obama will deliver the eulogy but perhaps the most moving words we will hear today come from john lewis himself. an essay mailed to "the new york times" just two days before his death. >> sandra: in that essay the last surviving speaker of the march on washington passes the torch to a new generation. gather together, you can re-doom the soul of our generation. he writes, in my life i have done all i can to demonstrate that the way of peace, the way of love and nonviolence is the more excellent way. now it is short-term to let freedom ring. when historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who lay down the heavy burden of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. >> trace: harris faulkner has been leading our coverage of the memorial events over the past six days, all of it of course leading up to today. harris, walkman good morning to you. >> harris: good morning tracy, good morning sandra. i want to start by saying, sandra thank you for getting in my ear just a moment ago, we shared such a great friendship, you and i and herman cain. on this day we witnessed a generation of voices, but i think it's just so amazing and glorious, if i might, that john lewis knew enough before the days of his passing to use those words about taking us forward. to say that there really is no room for hate. but there is certainly room for vision. he talked about how separate from that letter, but often talked about how hate is to heavy of a burden for any of us to bear. so as we get ready to watch his home-going, as we sa essay on te black community, this will be the final day of god. we do want to kind of -- he would have wanted it to truly be a celebration not only of his life but his place in our lives and our journeys together through civil rights and beyond. we are american, altogether. from his birthplace in rural troy alabama, to the place where state troopers fractured his skull, to the u.s. capitol where he became the first-ever black man to lie in state, inside the capitol rotunda. the past few days we have taken john lewis full circle, you might say, and soon we will hear from those who knew him best when this funeral service gets underway but first, i want to go to jonathan serrie who is live in atlanta. >> hi, there, harris. in addition to those three former presidents that will be delivering tributes, just among multiple dignitaries there at funeral services for congressman john lewis here at ebenezer baptist church in atlanta's historic sweet auburn district. congressman john lewis' american flag draped casket arrived at the church and they reflected on his influential life. >> he built quite a reputation along the way. in the good troubles that led to real change. >> although the fight for liberty and equality continues, congressman lewis reminded us to be hopeful. >> also john lewis reminds us to never be afraid of where we are going when we know god is going with us. god be with you. john lewis. job well done. >> that op ed that he penned is an incredible gift and it's worth reading in its entirety but i will just redo one excerpt. he writes in part, though i may not be here with you, i ask you to stand up for what you truly believe. it's a more excellent way and now it's your turn to let freedom ring. funeral services of chorus unfolding here at atlanta's historic ebenezer baptist church where congressman lewis' friend and lifelong mentor was baptized, and during the 1960s preached to this congregation. harris, back to you. >> harris: jonathan serrie, thank you very much. i want to bring in now another friend, alvina king. niece of dr. dr. martin luther king jr. and fox news contributor. we will set this up today in terms of talking about john lewis, but we can't lose the thought of the fact that i know herman cain worshiped not far from there at antioch baptist church. born in atlanta, i know some of the other children of that great city. i ask for your review and your spiritual leadership today on all of it. >> will you please let me share in this manner, harris? i just heard about our good friend herman cain, and i saw him at the rally, the rally recently and we will miss herman. he was another one of those civil rights warriors during the civil rights movement. he was very vocal and active as well. we will miss him, certainly, we are memorializing and doing the send-off of congressman john the list today. we got so many, so there is the changing of the guard. something is really happening. we will certainly miss the leader herman cain as well, and we will memorialize john. what a day. >> sandra: you know we are losing a generation of leadership and voice, and of course with your uncle having been you know, such a leader and someone about peace and love and to get it all kicked off, we saw what we could be. and we hoped that we are becoming that. so how do you see the change of the guard? >> we are becoming that. those of us who remain, we have to do something called to keep rank. we almost have to consider we are in a spiritual war, in actual war, too, if you look at some of the riots that are going on across the country and the covid pandemic. those of us who can keep rank and pray from my perspective, we have to not be in strife with these others. ebenezer has been the family church, the king family legacy for many years. you see people gathered from across the aisle, with every aisle. different ethnic groups and backgrounds et cetera. so we will have to learn to do what john said during his lifetime and that is to work as peaceful, nonviolent warriors. we must learn to live as brothers and sisters. we are going to have to do this and i know we can do it. so that's the question. >> harris: that's what you are talking about across the aisle and i'm looking at the schedule now. former presidents, three of them. bill clinton, george w. bush and barack obama in attendance today and they are set to speak. i want to throw now to sandra. >> sandra: thank you harris. beautiful words from alvina king. donna lewis joins us now. it's great to be with you on this day as we reflect on john the lissa's life and also now a word that we have lost herman cain to covid-19 complications. unimportant day to reflect on both of those lives as we take a look at the church live in atlanta, it's a beautiful sight. really moving words that struck all of us when we read them. together you redeem the soul of the nation and we talked about growing up from two loving parents. plenty of brothers, sisters and cousins but their love could not protect me from the unholy protection outside of that family circle. >> john lewis was an incredible human being but let me first express my condolences to herman cain's family. you and mr. kane and there are others who are in touch with his family. he was also a great warrior, although we never fought each other, mr. kane was extraordinary in his commitment to civil rights. as you well know, that's a as mh as we could in the community. so god bless you mr. p. so, they said they found the higher angles and trying to build a beloved community. these are words that i believe, and he believed in democracy and justice and freedom for all. >> sandra: these words struck me as well. ordinary people with extraordinary vision can redeem the soul of america by getting in what i call "good trouble" he writes, necessary trouble. >> john the list did not accept the hatred and segregation and racism. instead he believed that with long comic nonviolent protests, the ability to question those with the barrier, john lewis decided he would march for peace and justice. when i looked at his life and his legacy, i think of someone who came from almost nothing, but he saw something bigger and he fought for it. i do believe that legacy will live on. looking at the crowd of young people, and that's someone that they probably never met but he knew that they stood with them. that's what he meant when he wrote those pitiful words. >> sandra: he followed up those words with voting and participating in the democratic process are key. that's the nonviolent agent that you haven't democratic society and you must use it because it's not guaranteed, you could lose it. powerful words from john lewis and as you remember, we remember his life. donna brazile, great to be with you. >> it's interesting because we hear the bells toll 80 times and those are for the 80 years that john lewis lived. those same valves are tolling at churches across the country who have been asked to take this time to toll the bell 80 times as a tribute to john lewis. he will be speaking and, it's also part of the great civil rights icons and the great civil rights leaders that john lewis was the one who lived a long enough to see him inaugurated. on inauguration day, president obama turned to john lewis and said if not for you i would not be here because i got on your shoulders and this was the way that i got into this office. i want to bring in melanie campbell who is the president of the national coalition on black civil participation. she volunteered with john that was on an early congressional campaign and i want to get your thoughts on not only john lewis in paying respects and tribute to him today as he is laid to rest but also herman cain, another great american and great african-american who is so pivotal to this country's direction. >> thank you so much, indeed, it's a somber moment. my sister donna deville who is a colleague of mine, and i spent a number of years in atlanta and i wanted -- and step back. i also looked up the herman cain family. i did not know him personally but i did spend almost 20 years living in atlanta. that's how i met congressman lewis. but i was a student in clark college, so that's how important it is. i met the congressman not on a campaign, i met him going to selma, alabama. >> trace: i'm sorry to interrupt you but here is the pastor. >> behold, i show you a mystery. we shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. for the dead must be raised incorruptible. we shall all be changed. this mortal must put on immorality. and when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, this mortal shall have put on the immortality, then we will be brought to pass. the thing that is written, death, is swallowed up in victory. oh, death, where is your sting? o grace, where is your victory? thanks be unto god. who gives us the victory. thanks be unto god who gave john robert louis the victory. through jesus christ, our lord and liberator. let all the children of god say amen. you are in a baptist church, say it louder. amen. you may be seated. god bless you my sisters and brothers. you who sit in the sanctuary and those who join us on our church live stream wired by television. and god bless you and welcome to ebenezer baptist church. a spiritual home of martin luther king jr. the spiritual home of john robert lewis. america's freedom church. we have come to say farewell to our friend in these difficult days. that have even made grieving more challenging. at a time when we find comfort in embracing one another. love compels us to socially distance from one another. but make no mistake, we are together. in principle, even if not in proximity. we may not be in the same room but we are on the same page. we love john robert lewis. [applause] >> come on, give god praise. [applause] come on, let the nation celebrate. ♪ john lewis. [applause] let me just offer this. we praise god for john lewis. as we gather in this house of god we are reminded that as a teenager, he actually wrestled with a call to ministry. a farmboy, he use to preach to the chickens. i guess you have to start somewhere. and then at age 16, he preached what we baptists call his trial sermon in a little country church. but as his life took shape, instead of preaching sermons, he became one. he became a living, walking sermon about truth telling and justice making. he loves america until america learned how to love him back. we celebrate john lewis. [applause] at a time when there was so much going on in our world, the news cycle is packed and it moves at a dizzying pace. yet for the last several days it is as if time stood still while the nation takes its time to remember him. and i rise simply to ask in this call to celebration, what is it that has summoned us here? and that causes us to slow down to linger for a little while. with so much swirling around us, we are summoned here because in a moment when there are some in high office who are much better at division then vision, they cannot lead us so they seek to divide us. in a moment where there is so much politico cynicism and narcissism that masquerades as patriotism, here lies a true american patriot who risked his life and limb for the hope and the progress of democracy. we celebrate john lewis. beaten and battered, but never bitter and on a bridge in selma he stared down and one. how did he do it? the great-great-grandson of, he was born of suffering. they more closely align themselves with the law of love. an amazing but vastly created -- they had john the lissa's ancestors met a man named in the brush harbors of alabama and georgia and mississippi and john the john the list received of that and took it with him across that bridge in selma, and every other bridge. we've come to celebrate john lewis. so let us be clear. and what he etched in ink, and already had been sanctioned by blood. the blood of the virus. the blood of two and an african-american who are murdered in mississippi, the blood of viola louis so, the blood of john lewis, and he was wounded for america's transgressions. and lots of rake commit tomorrow, they are standing together and voting together and standing up on the half of truth and righteousness. that's the goal of our democracy together, let's work in the lord. let's worship the lord together. thank god for john robert lewis. let the nation say, amen. and let the angels rejoice. >> good morning. i will be coming from the 23rd number of psalms. the lord is my shepherd, i shall not want to. he maketh me to lie down in green pastures and lead me beside the still waters. he restored my soul and lead us to me in the path of righteousness for his namesake. though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i will fear no evil. for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. they prepare the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. my cup run her over. surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and i will dwell in the house of the lord forever. thank you. >> good morning. i'll be reading first chronicles, 13 chapter. if i could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, i would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. if i have the gift of prophecy and if i understood all of god's secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if i had such faith that i could move mountains but didn't love others, i would be nothing. if i gave everything i had to the poor and even sacrificed my body, i could boast about it, but if i didn't love others, i would have gained nothing. love is patient and kind, love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. it does not demand its own way, it is not irritable and keeps no record of being wronged. it does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices about whenever the truth wins out. love never gives up, never loses faith, it's always hopeful and endures in every circumstance. prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless, but love will last forever. now, our knowledge is partial and incomplete and even the graft of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture. but when the time of perfection comes these partial things will become useless. when i was a child, i spoke and thought and reasoned as a child, but when i grew up, i put away childish childish things. now we see things imperfectly like puzzling reflections in a mirror but now we see everything with perfect clarity, and all that i know now is partial and incomplete. but then i will know everything completely, just as god now knows me completely. faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. thank you. [applause] >> good morning. while we know that death is the great equalizer, we all recognize that each person's experience with it is different. and so, i want to extend condolences to you, john miles, the siblings of john lewis and the entire lewis family on behalf of the entire king family, including my aunt christine, my dad's only living sibling, who would have been here with us today, but for covid. but rest assured she is giving us on television as we speak. let us pray. great and mighty god, who is creator of us all and sustainer of all things, we invoke you on this morning. we welcome you, the holy spirit, into this place. we humbly left to you in this hour for wisdom, strength and comfort as we celebrate the home-going of your son and servant, congressman john robert lewis. please, dear father, and grant them a piece of god that passes all understanding. surround them with your love. in the words of your servant martin luther king jr., who reminded us that death is not. a period that ends this great sentence of life, but, which punctuates it to a lofty and higher significance. help us, oh god to come to grasp that truth and see the magnitude of this moment. not merely as the death of a great soul, but as the divine message that says be still and know that i am god. hear me and heed my message in this hour that love, even fo fon enemy is the only way to transform this world into a true brother and sisterhood. we thank you, god, for the life and legacy of congressman john lewis who showed up this most excellent way of life. we thank you for honoring us with his presence and allowing our lives to intersect with his life. be with his family to be with those who struggle with him and that movement and know that he continues to live on in and through each and every one of them and each and every one of us. we pray to you oh, god for this nonviolent warrior who fought for two rupees, and with that he taught us not merely as the absence of tension but the absence of justice. as we honor the life, we might have the right to vote. grant that we never again take that right for granted and that we exercise that no matter what, and that we never again tamper with that right. overtaken this hour, our congress, that they might restore voting rights protections in our nation and as we honor the life of this nonviolent warrior who invited the very spirit of and showed us that we have the spiritual pow power, and that's evil and hatred and vitriol with the forests of love and truth, we are eternally grateful, oh, god to come that he lived among us for four score years and demonstrated on the bridge that physical force is no match for soul force. grant us the capacity to follow up his example, to fight injustice without bitterness and hostility but with a righteous indignation. oh, god, with a double portion of elijah's anointing as he transitions, let us talk about what his life was about so we can continue to get in good trouble. anoint us with a double portion in this generation to get into good trouble until there is a radical reform and policing in our nation. anoint us a double portion to get into good trouble and tell voter suppression is no longer a part of our body. anoint us until there is an equitable distribution of wealth in this nation, until everyone has a livable wage and of affordable housing in good health care. anoint us oh god with a double portion, to get us into good trouble. grant us all father a double portion to get into good trouble, until the school to prison pipeline is nonexistent and every child gets an equitable education. grant us dear god i double portion to get us into good trouble until white supremacy around the world is uprooted and dismantled and all of our policies and everyday practices and behaviors no longer reflect white supremacy. grant us a double portion, god, to get into to good trouble until this nation truly becomes a compassionate nation. because as daddy reminded us, ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. grant us a double portion of anointing, to get into good trouble, until black bodies are no longer a threat in this wor world. and black lives have equitable representation power and influence in every arena. and grant us finally father god a double portion to get into good trouble, until love becomes the way we live. the way we lead, the way we legislate. and until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. thank you, oh, god, for this great man who lived among us, who now joins the great cloud of freedom fighters. and lord to come thank you for his life and his legacy. we will continue to get into good trouble as long as you grant us the breath to do so. it is in the matchless, the majestic and the mighty name of the that i do pray, and all the people of god said together, amen. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you may build the great cathedrals ♪ ♪ large or small ♪ you may build skyscrapers, gd and tall ♪ ♪ you may conquer all the failures of your past ♪ ♪ but only what you do for will last. ♪ you may seek earthly power, wealth and fame ♪ and the world might be impressed by your great name. ♪ soon the glories of this life will all be past ♪ ♪ but only what you do for will last ♪ ♪ remember only what you do for will last ♪ ♪ remember only, only, only what you do for will last ♪ ♪ only what you do for him will be counted in the end ♪ ♪ only what you do for will last ♪ ♪ only what you do for will last ♪ ♪ remember, only what you do for christ the last ♪ ♪ only what you do, what you do for us to christ will be counted at the end ♪ ♪ only what you do, what you do for us to is gonna last, it is gonna last, yeah ♪ ♪ only what you do, what you do for christ will last ♪ ♪ only what you do for christ will last ♪ ♪ only what you do, only what you do, yeah ♪ [applause] >> this is john lewis' favorite poem, convict us. over out of the night that covers me black as a tip from pole to pole, i thank whatever gods may be for my uncomfortable soul. in the failed course of circumstance i have not wept or cried aloud. under the bludgeoning of chance, my head is bloodied but unbowed. beyond this place of wrath and tears, but the horror of the shaded, and yet minutes of the years find and shoved by me unafraid. it matters my house strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll. i am the master of my fate, i am the captain of my soul. john lewis was my hero and my friend. let's honor him by getting in good trouble. [applause] >> only the incomparable spirit and the magnanimous soul of john lewis could someone to summon all of us together, in this place, at this time. only john lewis could compel three living american presidents to come to this house of god to celebrate his life. and we are grateful that all of you are here. the honorable george w. bush. [applause] who was president the last time we authorized the voting rights act. the honorable william jefferson clinton. [applause] and in just a little while, we will hear from the honorable barack obama. but the program will proceed as printed. president bush, president clinton, speaker of the house nancy pelosi, and another living saint among us, teacher and activist, the reverend james lawson. >> good morning. distinguished guests, john miles, lewis family and friends, i thank you for being here today. john's story began on a tiny farm in troy, alabama, a place so small that he said you could barely find it on the map. but that line that talked about the chickens, i did a little research. every morning he would rise before the sun to tend to the flock of chickens. he loved those chickens. already called to be a minister who took care of others, john fed them and tended to their every need. even their spiritual ones. john baptized them, he married them and he preached to them. when his parents claim one for family supper, john refused to eat one of his flock. going hungry was his first act of nonviolent protests. [laughs] he also noted in later years that his first complication of chickens listen to him more closely than some of his colleagues in congress. john also felt that chickens were just a little more productive but at least they produced eggs, and he said. from the sit ins of nashville to the freedom rides in the march on washington, from freedom summer to so much on the list, always looked outward, not inward. he always thought of others. he always believed in preaching the gospel in word and indeed. insisting that hate and fear had to be answered with love and hope. john lewis believed in the lord, he believed in humanity, and he believed in america. he's been called an american saint. a believer, willing to give up everything. even life itself to bear witness to the truth that drove him all his life. that we could build a world of peace and justice, harmony and dignity, and a love. and the first crucial step on that journey is a recognition that all people are born in the image of god and carry the spark of the divine within them. he brought with him the african-american history and museum of culture with him to ththe washington mall. i seek to revolution in cases where justice have been too long denied. and we will never forget, joining him in selma, alabama, for the 50th anniversary of his march across the edmund pettus bridge, where we got to watch president barack obama thanked john as one of his heroes. [applause] there is a story in the old scriptures that meant a lot to john and in the hebrew bible the lord is looking for a profit. whom shall i send, god wonders and whom will go for us? isaiah answers, here am i, sent me. john lewis heard that a long time ago and segregated alabama and he took up the work of the lord through all his days. his lesson for us is that we must all keep ourselves open to hearing the call of love. the call to service and the call to sacrifice to others. john and i had our disagreements of course, but that america that john lewis fought for and the america that i believe and differences of opinion are inevitable evidence and elements of democracy in action. [applause] we the people, including congressmen and presidents, can have differing views on how to protect our union while sharing the conviction that our nation, however flawed, is at heart, a good and noble one. we live in a veteran over at country today because of john lewis and his abiding faith in the power of god. and the power of democracy. and, in the power of love to lift us all to a higher ground. the story that began in troy isn't ending here today, nor is the work. john lewis lives forever in his father's house and he will live forever in the hearts of americans who ha asked justly, e mercy, and walk humbly with god. made of flags of angel siege on the list to his rest and may god bless the country he loved. [applause] ♪ [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. first, i think john miles and the lewis family, and the staff for a chance to say a few words about a man that i loved for a long time. i am grateful for the pastor to say it in ebenezer. the holy place sanctified by both the faith and the works of those who have worshiped here. i think my friend, reverend bernicbernice king who stood byy side and gave a amazing sermon during one of the most challenging periods of my life. i think president and mrs. bush, president obama, and representative claiborne. who i really think though, with the stroke of a hand, ending an interfamily bite within our party, proving that peace is needed by everyone. madame mayor, thank you. you have faced more than a fair share of challenges in these last few months and you have faced them with candor, dignity and honor. and i thank you for your leadership. [applause] i must say, or a fellow that got his start speaking to chickens, john's gotten of finely organized and it deeply deserves send-off this last week. his home-going has been something to behold. [applause] i think it's important that all of us who loved him and remember that he was, after all, a human being. a man like all other humans, one with strength that he made the most of when many don't. born with weaknesses that he worked hard to beat down when many can't. but still a person. it made him more interesting and it made him, in my mind, even greater. 20 years ago we celebrated the 35th anniversary of the selma march and we walked together along with many others from the movement who are no longer with us. we are grateful for reverend jackson and many others who survived. but on that day, i got him to replay for me a story he told me when we first met, back in the 1970s. and i said, you know, i was just an aspiring politician, hadn't been elected governor and he was already a legend. so i said john, what's the closest you've ever came to actually getting killed doing this? and he said well, once we were out of demonstration and i got knocked down on the ground and people were getting beat up pretty bad and all of a sudden i looked up and there was a man holding a long, heavy piece of pipe. he lifted it and was clearly going to bring it right down onto my skull. at the very last second i turned my neck away and then the crowd pushed him a little bit. a couple seconds later, i couldn't believe i was still alive. i think it's important to remember that, first because he was a quick thinker. secondly, because he was here on a mission that was bigger than personal ambition. things like that sometimes just happen, but usually they don't. i think three things happened to john lewis long before we met and became friends that made him who he was. first, the famous story of john with his cousins and siblings, holding his aunt's hand, a couple dozen of them running around in that little wooden house as the wind threatens to blow the house off of its moorings. going to the place where the house was rising and all those tiny bodies trying to weigh you down. i think he learned something about the power of working together. something that was more powerful than any instruction. second, nearly 20 years later when he was 23, the youngest speaker and the last speaker set to march on washington. when he gave a great speech urging people to take to the streets across the south to see the chance to finally end racism, and he listened to people that he knew. they had the same goal, they said we have to be careful how we say this because we are trying to get converts. not more adversaries. three years later he lost the leadership to stokely carmicha carmichael. because he said, you know i really -- i think it was a pretty good job for a guy that young that came from troy, alabama. it must have been painful to lose, but he showed as a young man that there are some things that you cannot do to hang on to a position, because if you do them, he won't be who you are anymore. and i say, there were two or three years there where the movement went a little bit too far towards stokely, but in the end, john lewis prevailed. we are here today because he had the kind of character he showed when he lost on election. [applause] and then, there was blood he sunday. he figured he might get arrested. and this is really important not to, for all the rhapsodic things we believe about john lewis, he had a really good night and he was always trying to figure out how can i make the most of every single moment. so, he's getting ready to march from selma to montgomery and he wants to get across the bridge. what do we remember? he made hav may have cut a strae figure, he had a trenchcoat and a backpack. now young people may not think that such a big deal but there weren't many backpacks back then and you never saw anybody in a trenchcoat looking halfway halfway dressed up with a backpack. but john put an apple, an orange, toothbrush and toothpaste in the backpack to take care of his body because he figured he would get arrested. and two books. one was a book by richard hofstadter on america's political tradition to feed as mine, and the other, the autobiography of thomas merton. the roman catholic trappist monk who was the son of the itinerant artists, making an astonishing personal transformation. once a young guy who is getting his brains beat out and planning on going to prison doing? i figure if thomas merton could find his way and keep his faith and believe in the future, that he, john lewis, could, too. [applause] and so we honor our friend for his face and reliving his faith. the scripture says is, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. he was a walking rebuke to people, we aren't there yet, isn't it time to baguette? and he kept moving. he hoped for and imagined, lived, worked and moved for his beloved community. he took a savage beating on more than one day. and he lost that backpack on what he sunday. nobody really knows what happened to it. maybe someday, someone will be stricken with conscience and it gives some of it back. but what it represented never disappeared from john lewis' spirit. we honor that memory today because, as a child he learned to walk with the wind, to march with others to save a tiny house. because as a young man he challenged others to join in with love and dignity to hold america's house down and open the doors of america to all his people. we honor him because in selma, on the third attempt, john and his comrades showed that sometimes you have to walk into the wind along with with it. as he crossed the bridge and marched into montgomery. but no matter what, john always kept walking to reach the beloved community. he got into a lot of good travel on the way but he also developed an uncanny ability to heal troubled waters. when he could have been angry and determined to cancel his adversaries, he tried to get converts instead. he thought the open handles better than the clint's stomach clenched fist. he lived by the faith and promises of st. paul, let us not grow weary and in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart. he never lost heart. he fought the good fight and kept the faith. but we got our last letter today on the pages of "the new york times." keep moving. it is so fitting on the day of his service, and he leaves us our marching orders. keep moving. 20 years ago when i came here after the selma march to a big dinner honoring john and lillian and john miles, you had a big afro. [laughs] and it was really pretty. and your daddy was giving you grief about it and i said john, don't get old too soon, if i had hair like that i'd have it down to my shoulders. [laughs] and on that night, i was almost out of time and people -- to be president. people were asking me, if you could do one more thing, what would it be? or what do you wish you had done that you didn't and all that kind of stuff. someone asked that night, because i had many friends in atlanta and i said it, if i could just do one thing, if god came to me tonight and said, okay, your time's up, we have to go home, and i'm not a genie, i'm not giving you three wishes. one thing, what would it be. and i said, i would infect every american with

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