Wednesday, January 29, 2003

A religious reference that many people might have missed in Bush's State of the Union speech:
Our fourth goal is to apply the compassion of America to the deepest problems of America. For so many in our country--the homeless, and the fatherless, the addicted--the need is great. Yet there is power -- wonder-working power -- in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people.
No, not the word "faith." It's the term "wonder-working power." I don't know whether Bush or his speechwriters came up with this, but it's a quote from the 1899 hymn "There's Power in the Blood," the blood in question being that of Christ. The chorus to that song goes like this:
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb
I wonder how many people caught this reference, outside of the relatively few who go (or went) to churches that sing old country hymns regularly.
UPDATE: Well, I now see that at least two other bloggers picked up on the reference independently: Susanna Cornett and Mark Byron.

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