A lot is being made of the symbolism attached to Rick Warren, in giving the Invocation at Barack Obama’s inauguration. Much less has been said about the symbolic importance of Joseph Lowery giving the Benediction.

I like symbolism, truly I do. A wonderfully human thing, through which we conjure up and attach any meaning we please to any object we choose. Then we try and use these self-coined symbols to communicate with each other – what could go wrong?

I myself am disgusted with the presence of Rick Warren on the podium, the provision of a public platform for someone so entirely odious and reprehensible, but then this is what the Centrist Conservative Obama promised to do – provide room for every voice from all across the spectrum – so I am not surprised or even disappointed; I expect this kind of accommodationist behavior to continue.

But at the same time, I have allowed myself a small smile of pleasure at the selection of Joseph Lowery to deliver a benediction. I like Joseph Lowery. He is a kind, decent, compassionate and truthful man, and even though he is somewhat delusional about the whole god thing I can tolerate it because his vision of a god is one of boundless love and compassion rather than Warren’s repulsive god of hateful and petty authoritarianism.

For those of you who don’t know Lowery, here is a biographical sketch; he is a bona fide hero. For those who have never heard him speak, this is from the funeral service for Coretta Scott King. A frank critic of Bush pere et fils, he was asked beforehand to behave himself and he promised to try. He didn’t quite succeed, to the delight of almost all in attendance. I confess to having played this clip at least a dozen times and I still enjoy it as much as when I watched him live on TV.

Obama has often spoken very highly of Lowery and has several times shared a stage. Each time, Lowery has taken the opportunity to both school Obama on the art of speaking and taken him to task regarding the obligations of leadership. In my view, Lowery has a far greater fundamental influence on Obama than does Warren.

I see the Obama-Warren relationship as a couple of self-promoters, each seeking to use the other for their own purposes. Both of them are confident that it will redound to their favor, one hand washing the other in an expectation that the dirt will somehow be rinsed away. So far, I see no gain for either of them and certainly Warren has suffered as much castigation from the Religious Right as Obama has gotten from the Left. In the end I believe it will turn out to be lose-lose and they will go their own way, likely with neither of them any wiser for the experience.

The Lowery relationship, though, represents transfer of the institutional wisdom of the racial civil rights movement and that is not going away; Obama, try as he may, cannot deny his own skin and he has entrapped himself with the expectations of those who have imbued him with their hopes and dreams. The surviving father-figures of the civil rights era have the authority and gravitas to compel an audience with him whenever they choose, and those like Lowery will not hesitate to speak out in public if they feel they are not being heard in private; they will not be ignored.

On the specific issue of civil rights and homosexuality, Lowery is the next best thing to perfect. He is in his 80s now, and was born in a different era when homosexuality was demonized in the black community even more than it is today. He freely admits he still has personal difficulty with the concept of gay marriage, that it is a block buried deep in his psyche and he cannot root it out. But in the same breath he says eloquently and forcefully and clearly that all people are entitled to the same rights under the law, and that no one should be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation any more than race or religion. He has no patience for those who characterize homosexuality as a sin or something to be pitied or condemned.

I find the choice of Lowery to be a suitable bookend to the loathsome Warren. There is something to be said for placing a bigot and a fool at one end of the ceremony and a decent, fair-minded, kind and generous soul who has overcome his own early prejudices at the other. And in the spirit of symbolism, I note that their participation will provide each of them with a particularly special place in history.

Color-coded for your convenience, please observe that Rick Warren will offer the last public prayer given at an official government function during the presidency of George W. Bush while Joseph Lowery will offer the first under the new presidency of Barack Obama:

Slim, perhaps even ethereal, but that is the nature of symbolism; we each of us create what we need. Perhaps this little exercise will in a small way be of help some of you, as it ever so slightly comforts me.

[PS. While this inaugural is understandably upsetting to some, as it is to me in many ways, not all of the participants are inherently irksome. With unabashed regional pride I commend to your ears the San Francisco Girls and San Francisco Boys choirs. They have worked their little butts off for this moment, they are extraordinary, and their hearts are pure; were there angels, in chorus they would sound like this. Please if you can take a moment to listen. They are the voices of the future.]