is what s/he evokes from others. It is the task of the teacher, one with which I still struggle. It is the task of the pastor, the mentor, to bring forth from others the best that might be in them.
I have few words of my own to offer. I write this as Caroline finishes the remarks at the wake, the memorial so many of us have been watching.
We heard remarkable remarks - from Chris Dodd, from John Kerry, from John McCain, from Orrin Hatch, from John Culver . . . and most of all an amazing set of remarks from Joe Biden.
We heard from each of them, their words elevating them as they honored a friend they loved, but of greater importance - who loved them.
The tales of the caring - calling all the families from Massachusetts who lost people on 9-11, or in the two Iraq wars or Afghanistan. The many tales of his reaching out to and bearing up those who themselves suffered loss - we heard it from Dodd, from Biden, from Hatch.
But it is not merely that he did those things. It is that he touched others sufficiently that on his death he drew forth from them an eloquence beyond that which we might have expected. He elevated them.
Two expressions stood out in particular for me -
- that in his presence people did not want to act small, even if they were
- that of all the great leaders Joe Biden has met, at the end of the day Teddy was the one where it was not about him, it was about you
The scope of his legislative record is immense. The people with whom he collaborated is innumerable. The reach of his love and service for his family, serving as substitute father for the children of two martyred brothers, is magnificent.
It is most of all a question of how large one's heart is. The larger one's heart, the more it embraces others, and teaches them by example how large their own hearts can become.
Tonight I heard that in the words of others.
We were honored by their words, because we were honored by the life and service and love of Edward Moore Kennedy.
At the end of the Messiah, just before the Amen, are the words - and the music, because oh did Teddy love music of all kinds - that speak to me:
Thanks, thanks be to God:
that thanks for the life and work and love for life and people of Teddy Kennedy.
To his family, to his friends who became like family, to all whose lives he touched directly or indirectly ---
and above all
Peace.