EVENT: B2018 0624 GENERAL CLOSING CELEBRATION 4:30 PM CAPTIONS PROVIDED BY: HEAR INK HTTP://WWW.HEARINK.COM PHONE: 314-427-1113. **********DISCLAIMER********** THE FOLLOWING IS AN UNEDITED ROUGH DRAFT TRANSLATION FROM THE CART CAPTIONER'S OUTPUT FILE. THIS TRANSCRIPT IS NOT VERBATIM AND HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD. TO DO SO IS AN EXTRA FEE. THIS FILE MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SPEAKER(S) FOR ANY CLARIFICATION. THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED TO ANYONE UNLESS YOU OBTAIN WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE OFFICE OR SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT IS PROVIDING CART CAPTIONING TO YOU; FINALLY, THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE USED IN A COURT OF LAW. **********DISCLAIMER********** >> THIS WEEK, WE HAVE BEEN CALLED TO BE AND TO DO AND TO HOLD ON TO THE THREADS OF OUR CALLINGS... >> ALL ARE CALLED >> AND WE HAVE WORK TO DO...SO MUCH WORK ? ALL ARE CALLED TO THIS MOMENT >> OH, YES, WE ARE IN THE MUD AND THE MUCK AND THE JOY AND THE BEAUTY ? ALL ARE CALLED TO THIS DAY >> AS THE GENERATIONS HAVE TAUGHT US, THE MORAL ARC OF THE UNIVERSE IS LONG," AND IT BENDS TOWARDS JUSTICE" ? ALL ARE CALLED, ALL ARE CALLED, ALL ARE CALLED?. AS WE MOVE INTO THESE DAYS AND WEEKS AND YEARS OF CARRYING FORTH FROM THIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN KANSAS CITY, WITH OUR CALLINGS AND COMMITMENTS, WE HARKEN TO THE INVITATION OF THE POET, SO I INVITE TO YOU JOIN WITH US IN READING FROM WILLIAM TAP ORDINARY, THE WAY IT IS. THE POET REMINDS US THERE'S A THREAD YOU FOLLOW. IT GOES AMONG THINGS THAT CHANGE. BUT IT DOESN'T CHANGE. PEOPLE WONDER ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE PURSUING. YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN ABOUT THE THREAD. BUT IT IS HARD FOR OTHERS TO SEE. WHILE YOU HOLD IT YOU CAN'T GET LOST. TRAGEDIES HAPPEN; PEOPLE GET HURT OR DIE; AND YOU SUFFER AND GET OLD. NOTHING YOU DO CAN STOP TIME'S UNFOLDING. YOU DON'T EVER LET GO OF THE THREAD. [APPLAUSE] >> IN THESE RECENT DAYS WE'VE LEARNED SO MUCH IN AND ABOUT KANSAS CITY, ABOUT OURSELVES, OUR FAITH, OUR CALLINGS AND OUR CHALLENGES - BUT AS WE LEAVE, THERE MAY BE ONE OR TWO THINGS YOU STILL NEED TO KNOW. JUST DOWN THE ROD A BIT IN COCKER CITY, KANSAS, IS THE WORLD'S LARGEST BALL OF BETWEEN. IMAGINE UNRAVELING THAT. AND ANOTHER THING IS THE STORY OF NELLIE DONNELLY REID, A LOCAL INNOVATOR IN THE GARMENT INDUSTRY IN THE 1900S. AND THERE'S A MUSEUM NEARBY THAT SHARES MORE OF THE STORY OF THIS CITY AND THE I KNOW AT THIS CAT WEAVING, WHARF, AND WEFT OF WOMEN'S ENTREPRENEURSHIP, ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY AND CREATIVITY, INSPIRED BY A CORE VALUE OF BEAUTY, EQUITY, AND COMPASSION. WHICH REMINDS ME OF AN ANCIENT STORY. PERHAPS YOU HEARD IT BEFORE. ONCE THERE WAS A TAILOR WHO MADE WONDERFUL CLOTHES, BEAUTIFULLY DESIGNED AND THOUGHT. I CONSTRUCTED, BUT YOU IN A CONTEXT OF UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES AND VARIOUS OPPRESSIVE SYSTEMS OF EMPIRE AS THE ANCIENT TALE GOES. THIS TAILOR COLLECTED THE SCRAPS FROM THE COATS AND PANTS AND DRESSES THAT WERE LEFT OVER AND ONE DAY THE SEAMSTRESS, TAILOR, AND THIS CRAFTER HAD ENOUGH MATERIAL TO MAKE THEIR OWN CLOAK. >> WELL, IT WAS WONDERFUL. THE COAT OF MANY COLORS. EACH PIECE A STORY WOVEN INTO ONE HOLY WORK OF BEAUTY. DIFFERENT, OF COURSE, THAN THE STYLES OF THE DAY, BUT IT WAS MAGNIFICENT AND WARM AND BEAUTIFUL. >> OVER TIME, THE COAT WAS WORN AND WASHED AND STAINED AND FRAYED, BUT IN TIME, THE COAT CAME TO MAKE A LOVELY JACKET. AND IN MORE TIME WITH WEAR AND TEAR AND WEATHER AND THE DAY CAME THAT THE JACKET BECAME A FINE COAT?-- OH, MINE. MY FINE VEST. AND THEN YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. THE PASSAGE OF TIME AND THE UNRAVELING AND THE REWORKING OF THE PATTERN AND THE VEST BECAME AN APRON WORN FOR PIE BAKING IN WARM SUMMER KITCHENS. THEN A HANDKERCHIEF AND TEARS OF JOY AND TEARS OF SADNESS SOON RENDERED THE CLOTH MERELY ENOUGH TO MAKE ONE FINAL BUTTON, AND OH, HOW THAT BUTTON WAS HELD WITH INTENTION WITH A CLARITY OF KNOWING ALL THE HISTORY AND HOPE OF A COMMUNITY. >> AND ONE DAY, THEY LOOKED AT A CHILD, HELD THE BUTTON AND SAY, IS THIS ALL THERE IS? AND THE SEEM STRESS SAID, OH, DEAR ONE, THIS IS A HAND OF MINE. NOW THE STORIES OF YOUTH AND ALL OF OUR STORIES ARE WHAT WE FIND WITH THE GENERATION TO COME. >> DEAR ONES, LET US WEAVE THESE THREADS AND LET US ALWAYS BE CALLED TO SHARE THESE STORIES OF FAITH AND HOPE AND HOPE AND LOVE. OUR STORIES OF OUR CALLINGS OUR MEMORIES OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY OUR HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS OUR COMMITMENTS TO THE WORK OF REPAIRING THE WORLD ALL OF THIS IS HEARD IN THESE THREADS. >> WE INVITE YOU TO TIE THAT THREAD AROUND YOUR WRIST OR A FINGER OR A BUTTON ON YOUR COLLAR AS A CALL TO MEMORY - OF WHAT YOU ARE CALLED TO DO AND WHO YOU ARE CALLED TO BE MOVING OUT INTO THESE MONTHS AHEAD. >> UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN, MAY THE THREAD THAT TIES YOU >> TO ME >> AND TO ME >> REMIND US OF OUR CALLINGS COMMITTED TO AT THIS GENERAL ASSEMBLY. BECAUSE WE ARE INDEED EVER GROWING IN OUR LEARNING THAT.THE TESTIMONY OF YOUR DAILY LIVING IS THE MISSING RECOMMEND INSANITY IN THE FABRIC OF OUR FUTURE. >> MAY THESE THREADS CALL US TO BE THE CHANGE WE WISH TO SEE, WITH OUR COMMITMENTS TO WEAVE THE TAPESTRY OF LOVE KNOWN AS, GROWING AS, BELOVED COMMUNITY. [APPLAUSE] >> I KNOW YOU CAN I KNOW WE CAN IN OUR GARMENT OF DESTINY IN OUR SHAPE SHIFTING FAITH >> WE CAN HOLD ON TO OUR CALLINGS HOLD ON TO ONE ANOTHER HOLD ON FOR DEAR LIFE TO THAT WHICH WE HOLD MOST DEAR. >> THERE'S A THREAD YOU FOLLOW. IT GOES AMONG THINGS THAT CHANGE, BUT IT DOESN'T CHANGE?. YOU DON'T EVER LET GO OF THE THREAD. [APPLAUSE] **********DISCLAIMER********** THE FOLLOWING IS AN UNEDITED ROUGH DRAFT TRANSLATION FROM THE CART CAPTIONER'S OUTPUT FILE. THIS TRANSCRIPT IS NOT VERBATIM AND HAS NOT BEEN PROOFREAD. TO DO SO IS AN EXTRA FEE. THIS FILE MAY CONTAIN ERRORS. PLEASE CHECK WITH THE SPEAKER(S) FOR ANY CLARIFICATION. THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE COPIED OR DISSEMINATED TO ANYONE UNLESS YOU OBTAIN WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE OFFICE OR SERVICE DEPARTMENT THAT IS PROVIDING CART CAPTIONING TO YOU; FINALLY, THIS TRANSCRIPT MAY NOT BE USED IN A COURT OF LAW. **********DISCLAIMER********** EVENT: B2018 0624 GENERAL CLOSING CELEBRATION 4:30 PM CAPTIONS PROVIDED BY: HEAR INK HTTP://WWW.HEARINK.COM PHONE: 314-427-1113.