amazing grace

- one of the defining phrases of the new testamentis "saved by grace." that's because the new covenantthat christ established with his peopleis based on grace. and because of god's grace wehave the hope of eternal life. but what is grace? and what does it mean whenpeople say we're saved by grace? and does salvation bygrace mean that there's no response on my part in orderto benefit from his grace.

find out right now, onlet the bible speak. ♪ music ♪ announcer: from the churchesof christ let the bible speak with evangelist kevin presley. i'm very glad that you've chosen to be with me today forour study of god's word. you know there are alot of important things we could talk about today.

but none is importantas god's message to man. and there's not a morethrilling part of god's word to discuss than the onewe want to study today. one of the most oft quotedpassages of the new testament is found in ephesianschapter two in verse eight. and as i read it today ithink you'll recognize it. but i want to read the versesthat follow it as well. so we'll look atephesians chapter two, and i want to begin therebeginning in verse eight.

the apostle paul says "for by grace are yousaved through faith. "and that not of yourselves. "it is the gift of god. "not of works, lestany many should boast. "for we are his workmanship. "created in christjesus unto good works, "which god hath before ordained "that we should walk in them."

well thank god for that passage. you know, i've done alot of things in my life that i disappointed and evenangered god, and you have too. paul said "all havesinned and come short "of the glory of god." romans chapterthree and verse 23. every last one ofus needed something that we ourselvescould not provide. every one of us owed a debt

that we did not havethe means to pay back. and if it were left up to us, we would have nowhere to turn. nothing of which to boast, and no hope to claim. we would be doomed eternally. but god changed all of that. and he did it for one reason. he loves us andhe smiled upon us,

even though we didn'tdeserve it in the least. now grace by definition isthe unmerited favor of god. and it provided something thatwe all desperately needed, instead of what we all deserved. now grace is greatlymisunderstood today. and it's so greatlymisunderstood because the justiceand the holiness of god is also misunderstood. some people todaybehave as though grace

gives them a blankcheck to allow them to do as they please withoutany fear of condemnation. but that can't be becausepaul asked rhetorically in the roman letter"what shall we say then, "shall we continue in sinthat grace may abound. "god forbid." romans chaptersix and verse one. others believe that sincewe're saved by grace, then god requiresnothing on the part

of the sinner to be saved. baptism for exampleis unnecessary because we're savedby grace they tell us. but is that really true? and if so, then what didjesus mean in matthew seven and 21 when he said "noteveryone that sayeth "unto me lord lord shallenter the kingdom of heaven, "but he that doeth the will "of my father whichis in heaven."

does grace precludeobedience to the gospel? well let's look intothe scriptures today and see if we can sort allof this out in just a moment. before i sayanything else today, i want to make itabundantly clear, i believe we are saved bythe grace of a loving god. i can't believe the scriptures and then deny a fact soplainly stated within them. nor would i want to denysuch a wonderful truth.

i would be a very frightenedman when i thought about the judgementday if i didn't believe in the grace andthe mercy of god. no passage of scriptureis any plainer than paul's affirmativein ephesians chapter two in verse eight. "for by grace are yousaved through faith." the question todayis what is grace? what does it mean tobe saved by grace?

now grace is favoror kindness shown without regard to theworth or the merit of the one who receives it. and in spite of whatthat person deserves. or to state it more simply. it is the undeservedfavor of god. now grace is one of thekey attributes of god. exodus chapter 34and verse six says, "that the lord god ismerciful and gracious.

"he is long-sufferingand abounding ingoodness and truth." and god is stillall of those things despite a verysinful human race. now man may look athimself in the mirror and like what he sees, but you see god doesn'tlook at him that way. he may be a moral, law abiding,kind, compassionate person, he may be very pious anddevoted to his religion. but isaiah remindsus that we are all

as an unclean thingand all of our own righteousness is as filthy rags. and we all do fade is a leaf. and our iniquities like thewind have taken us away. and there is none thatcalleth upon by name that stirreth up himselfto take hold of thee. isiah chapter 64verses six and seven. the apostle paul summed it up in the seventhchapter of romans.

where he personifies himselfunder the law of moses, trying to bejustified by perfectly keeping it's commandmentsand ceremonies. and he found himselfhopelessly frustrated. for he said "thateven though he tried "with all of his might to meet "all of the requirementsof moses law, "sin took occasion tothe flesh and slew him "or kept him in bondageto sin and condemnation."

that's what thatchapter is all about. and his conclusionin verse 24 was, "oh wretched man that i am, "who shall deliver me fromthe body of this death." now paul realizedthat the strength to be saved wasn'twithin himself. and so he says in verse 25, "i thank god throughjesus christ our lord." in other words christprovided what paul himself

could not produce by hisown strength or goodness. so that's what grace is. it is god's willingnessto forgive our debt of sin and save us from it's penalty even though wedeserved to perish. now you can't buy orearn the grace of god. the bible says it is a gift,ephesians two and eight. but if we're saved by grace, well doesn't thatmean that the gospel

comes with no strings attached? that i'm saved beforeand independent of any act of obedienceto the gospel. why, wouldn'tsalvation by grace mean that baptism for exampleis irrelevant to salvation? after all wouldn'tbaptism be a work. and paul said therein ephesians two, we're not saved by workslest any man should boast. but yet the biblecommands the sinner.

it doesn't suggest,it commands the sinner to be baptized for theforgiveness of sins. just as plain as paulwas in ephesians two and verse eight in sayingwe are saved by grace, peter was just as plainin acts two and 38 when he told the peopleon pentecost to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christfor the remission of sins. and peter as well wrote

in second peter chapterthree in verse 21. where unto the like figurebaptism doth also now save us. well are these bible teachingsat variance with each other? does one void out the other? by saying that baptism is arequirement for salvation, why wouldn't that makeunnecessary the grace of god? well you know maybe theconfusion doesn't come from not understandingwhat grace is. but rather understanding whatbaptism and obedience is.

i'll look at colossianschapter two and verse 12. colossians two and verse 12. paul there says, "buriedwith him in baptism, "wherein also ye are risenwith him through the faith "in the operation of god whohath raised him from the dead." in other words, when we submit to being baptized into christ, we're not placing ourfaith in ourselves. we're not relyingon our own strength.

and what is there in baptismthat is meritorious anyway? paul says "we are raisedfrom the waters of baptism "through faith not on ourselves "but faith in theoperation of god." you see in baptism weare obediently trusting in christ to saveus from our sins. now his blood is whatwashes our sins away, not the actual water. but yet saul wastold by the preacher

in acts 22 and 16 to arise and be baptizedwashing away thy sins. calling on the name of the lord. now really it's pretty simplewhen you put it all together. in baptism, ananiah said "we're calling upon the nameof the lord to be saved." and we're allowing hisblood to do it's work and to cleanse usfrom our past sins in the obedience of baptism.

now go back and lookat ephesians two verses eight through 10 again. paul there says, "for by graceare you saved through faith. "and that not of yourselves, "it is the gift ofgod not of works, "lest any man should boast for "we are his workmanshipcreated in christ jesus "onto good works. "which god hath before ordained

so paul doesn't haveevery kind of work in mind when he says that we aresaved by grace through faith not of works lest thena man should boast. he's talking aboutthe kind of works that give man a reason to boast. he's talking about worksof the old testament law. that law was predicated uponmans ability to keep it. and if you would berighteous in the eyes of god, it was because youperfectly kept the law.

and if you failed, evenin the minutest of things, well, the bible concludes you become guiltyof all of the law. well no man has ever beenable to meet that standard. nobody has ever been able todo that except jesus our lord. he lived up to the standardof the law in every respect. and because of that heis perfect and righteous. now no other person, noman, can make such a claim. now there's a vastdifference between man

trying to save himself and a man on the other hand submitting in faith tothe teachings of jesus. speaking of which, didyou know that faith is called a work in the bible? it is, in john chaptersix verses 28 and 29. jesus said they said, or they said unto jesus "what shall we do that wemight work the works of god?"

and jesus answeredand said unto them, "this is the work of god "that you believe onhim whom he hath sent." so jesus therecalls faith a work. yet paul said inephesians two and eight that we are saved bygrace through faith. not of works. so evidently some type of workis involved in our salvation. but not a work of merit,

of which man can boast and claim credit forhis own salvation. but the work of faith you see, that brings the glory to god. now nearly anyoneacknowledges that faith is necessary to be saved. everybody except forthe universalist. paul said without faith itis impossible to please him. hebrews chapter11 and verse six.

but now is faith justa mental affirmation of what the bible says? do i have saving faith in christ when i admit to myself thatjesus is the son of god? well you know ifso, then the devil and all of his minionsin hell are saved. because james chaptertwo in verse 19 says "thou believest that thereis one god thou do us well. "the devils alsobelieve and tremble."

no, the key is inthe next verse. james says, "but wiltthou know oh vain man "that faith withoutworks is dead?" you see faith must be put intoaction before it is faith. "and i submit to you my friends, "that the center putshis faith into action "when he submitsto the commandment "of christ and isbaptized into christ." now in baptism he earns nothing.

but he does demonstratehis faith in jesus. and he meets christ in thisdivinely appointed step and christ washes hissins away by his blood. thus paul says "buriedwith him in baptism "and raised with him throughfaith in the operation of god." colossians chapter two. well now let's lookat some examples of how grace workswith obedience. and i want you to see

that they don'tcollide they cooperate. and let's begin byconsidering the ephesians to whom paul madethis famous statement about salvation by grace. now much of paul'swriting was done to debunk the false teachings of jewish legalistsand pagan humanist. and both camps weretrying to influence young and vulnerablechristians to reject

the grace of god as thepremise of salvation. judaizers wererampant in the church, and they were tellingthose who were weak in the faith thatthey had to go back and to keep the law of moses, because it was only throughkeeping the law of moses that they could be seenjust in the eyes of god. and so in additionto the new covenant in order to be savedthey had to keep the old.

well paul is refutingthat in no uncertain terms here in ephesians two and eight. and he says that they had beensaved by grace through faith. but what did that mean? well do you know you couldread about the salvation of the very people towhom paul was talking? we can read about thesalvation of the people who made up the church atephesus in the book of acts. and it's found inacts chapter 19.

and if you look thereverses one through five, the bible says thatit came to pass. that while apolloswas at corinth, paul having pastthrough the upper coast came to ephesus andfinding certain disciples he said unto them"have you received "the holy ghostsince you believed?" and they said unto him "wehave not so much as heard "whether there beany holy ghost."

and he said unto them, "underwhat then were you baptized?" and they said "underjohn's baptism." then said paul,"john verily baptized "with the baptism of repentancesaying unto the people "that they shouldbelieve on him. "we should come after himthat is on christ jesus." but when they heard this they were baptized in thename of the lord jesus. so the ephesianswere saved by grace.

but they were also baptized. and paul thought thatbaptism was important enough that he commandedthem to submit to it. and not only that, theright baptism at that. so salvation by gracein no way eliminated the need or requirementfor baptism. you know the corinthianswere also saved by grace. paul said in second corinthianschapter six and verse one, "we then as workerstogether with him,

"beseech you alsothat you receive "not the grace of god in vain." but yet the book of actstells us how the corinthians were saved whenpaul first preached to them in the house of justice. acts chapter eight the endof verse eight says that "crispus, the chiefruler of the synagogue "believed in the lordwith all his house "and many of thecorinthians hearing

"believed and were baptized." so baptism on the part onthe believers at corinth that didn't negatethe grace of god. and neither does ittoday when a center in pennant and faith isbaptized into christ. now you probably knowthe story of noah and the great flood pretty well. god looked down at thisold sin cursed earth and he had enough.

man was as sinfulas sinful can be. and it was a vile and evil place because man had sopolluted the earth with his sin and the patienceof god had reached it's limit. so god decided thathe would destroy the world in a great flood. nothing would survive thismassive deluge of water. he would scrub the earth clean of it's wickednessand start over.

now i suppose that godcould have recreated man after the waters recededbut that wasn't his plan. there was one man outof the whole world that god had mercy on. genesis six andverse eight says, "but noah found grace inthe eyes of the lord." now that's significant. noah found grace. it wasn't that noah was sohigh and mighty and perfect

that god owed him something. god looked down at noah anddecided to show grace to him. god would save noah,and would use his family to replenish the new earth. and so god spoke to noah one day and told him he was going todestroy the world with a flood. and he told noah to build an ark for the saving ofhe and his house. and that ark wasto built according

to the plans that god gave him. the writer of hebrewsmemorialized the faith of noah in hebrews chapter11 and verse seven. when it says "by faithnoah, being warned of god "of things not seen as yet. "move with fear." he prepared an ark forthe saving of his house. by the which hecondemned the world and became heir of therighteousness which is by faith.

now noah was saved fromthe antediluvian world because of god's grace. there's no question about that. it was predicatedupon god's grace. but now let's supposethat noah had not done what god told him to do. suppose noah had said "well god doesn't needa boat to save me." or "god's all powerful,

"why doesn't god buildthe ark himself?" oh he didn't dare. the bible says thatnoah moved with fear. and he did exactlywhat god said to do. and that ark carriedhim and his family through the flood to salvation. now think it about this way. noah couldn't turn around and then brag aboutwhat he had done.

noah couldn't pound his chest and claim that hesingle-handedly saved the human racefrom extinction. he wouldn't have knownanything about a flood. and he certainlywould not have known what to do to save his family. were it not forthe grace of god. now friends, that's howit is with our salvation. we were doomed toeternal death with no way

of saving ourselvesbut god's grace provided a planfor our redemption. it was by grace thatgod sent his only son walking down the starrystairway of heaven to be slain on thatbloody hill of calvary. and he didn't have to do that. and we certainlydidn't deserve it. he came as the friend of sinners and he died for our redemption

while we were yet his enemies. he died for the screamingmob at the foot of his cross who were revelingin his suffering. and only one wordcan describe that. grace. grace beyond our comprehension. grace beyond ourability to show. grace that only god could have toward his belovedbut fallen creation.

roman chapter fivein verse 15 says, "but not as the offense,so also is the free gift. "for if through the offenseof one, many be dead. "much more the grace of god "and the gift by gracewhich is by one man "jesus christ hathabounded unto many." it was by grace that godgave us his wonderful plan in the form of the gospelso we could be saved. in ephesians chapter threeverses two through four,

paul spoke of the dispensationof the grace of god which is given me to you-ward. he says, "how that byrevelation he'd made known "unto me the mysterywhere by when you read "you may understand my knowledgein the mystery of christ." now all of that is by grace. and it is only by grace. paul told titus "forthe grace of god "that bring us salvationhas appeared to all men."

titus chapter twoand verse eleven. but now here's the catch. not all men are saved. jesus said not allmen would be saved. most would be lost. why? if salvation is by grace, and the grace of god hathappeared unto all men, shouldn't everybody be saved?

well we know thatwon't be the case. jesus said that"narrow was the way "that leadeth unto life, andfew there be that find it." so why won't all men be saved when god has providedhis grace for all men? the answer's found inhebrews chapter five verses eight and nine. for speaking of jesus, paulsaid "thou he were a son "yet learned theobedience by the things

"which he sufferedand being made perfect "he became the authorof eternal salvation "unto all them that obey him." do you see what paul is saying? god by his gracehas given man a plan a pathway for his salvation. christ is the authorof salvation, butman has to accept it. and paul places a conditionupon receiving it. he says "christ is theauthor of eternal salvation

have you obeyed the lord today? have you renderedobedience to the gospel in baptism for theremission of your past sins? i hope you'll do that. this very day withoutany further delay. if you would like afree printed transcript of today's lesson,we'd be more than happy to send you one free of anycost or obligation whatsoever. just let us know you would like

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to you right away ifyou'll just let us know that you want to be enrolled. and so we hope to hear from you. we hope you'll visitone of the churches that brings this program toyou from sunday to sunday. and we'll list those foryou in just a second. and make your plans,the lord willing. to be back with ushere for another study from gods word and tellsomebody else this week

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amazing grace my chains are gone

[footsteps] (williams)before the civil war, new orleans was uniquein all the world, more frenchthan it was american. races freely mixed, creatinga new class known as creoles, or free people of color. european menwere especially enchanted by the exotic light-skinnedwomen of this class, whose ancestors were thechildren of master and slave,

spanish and french. big night tonight. [bell tinkling] (williams)parties were thrownat the old orleans ballroom, where the europeans would selectthe young women, pledge support,raise families with them, yet never marry. one such liaison, that between jean-baptisteand pouponne delille,

produced a daughterwhose dreams would change the old orleans ballroomand her world forever. au revoir. (children) au revoir. bye. [bell pealing] oh, i'm late. grandmama gave it to meto wear on my night, for luck.

it brought me love. it will bring youthe same. cã©lie. papa, mamanhas to finish my hair. i want you to show me those fancy new stepsof yours: a reverse, lightly, hmm? as a birdsuddenly flies. so one, two, three.

(cã©cilia)i will fly like a bird, but i won't have a partner if my hair's a bird's nest. ah. ma chã¨rie. mm-hmm. [violin music] ah, chin up, chin up. you don't need to see.

you must trust your partner. i like to knowwhere i'm going, papa. then you should not waltz. it is the quadrille for you, or...the polka? [laughing] bonsoir, jean-baptiste. bonsoir, chã¨rie. henriette,

late, on yoursister's night. (cã©cilia)she forgets everything else when she'sin the classroom. forgive me, cã©lie. and will you forget next year,when it is your turn? i certainly hope so. i might not be able to waltzby then, anyway. (pouponne)oh, nonsense.

nonsense. you must stopwith your grand opinions. it will only upset her. i won't sayanother word about it. it was so dull without youon sunday at dinner. mama didn't eat a thing. well, i, um... henriette-- [women giggling]

girl? betsie. where is that wine i asked for? sorry, mr. jean. don't give me excuses, girl. bring me some wine. papa, was idoing it so wrong? maybe you will be readynext year, if you keep your chin up.

left, left. chin up, chin up. ♪ ♪ i know you will havea wonderful time, ma chã¨re. you look beautiful. but you said you wouldattend with us. i wish i could,but unfortunately, i haveimportant business. uhh.

bonsoir, mon amour. bonsoir. but, papa, i-- cã©lie, every man therewill watch you dance and wish he wereyour partner. by the way,your bird's nest looks lovely. a bientot. hyup.

[waltz music] (man)je vous presente monsieur samuel duprã©. enchantã©. your fatherhas chosen well. pray for her. pray for love,henriette. (man) amelia, ego to baptizo en nomino patris

et filiis et spiritus santci. [baby fussing] amen. (cã©cilia)amen. [baby crying] (henriette) maman, why isn't papa here? (pouponne)obviously, the business at the plantationis taking longer than expected.

well, he saidhe was gonna be here. your papa has notstayed with me for 25 years because i insistedthat he be here or there. don't you care? questions, henriette,always questions. ask too many questions, and you will driveyour man away. marie is gonna meet usat the boat. she's bringingschool supplies,

and julie and ipromised to be there. you'll be very careful? it's dangerous theresince the americans came. au revoir. [goat bleating] [bells ringing] (man #1)now, who'll startthe bidding at 150? 150, do i hear 150? yes, sir.thank you.

200, anyone? 200. (man #2) 200. (man #1) yes, sir. thank you very much. 325, 325, do i hear-- (man #3) 325. papa? were youaddressing me? no, sir.

i thought i knew the gentlemanyou were talking to. did you, now? henriette. [horse whinnies] (henriette) i thought i just saw my papa. bonjour. (julie) here's the bread you wanted for marie. ma'am.ma'am. uh, be right there.

[poignant music] would you like some? (man #1)gimme that! (man #2)get away! [men shouting] miss, let medo that for you. no, no. miss, it ain't seemly. [sighs]

(henriette) in a city like this, the masters do nothing? they just can'twork no more. (man)jacques! get over here! yes, sir. don't make mecall you twice. get over there and help mrs. morganwith her things.

sorry, ma'am. let me get thosefor you. what am i givingmarie now? oh, she won'tgo hungry tonight, julie. oh, there she is. marie! oh. oh, it's heavy. excuse me, sir. would you mindstopping--

[shrieks] [splashing] mum! don't worry, ma'am.i'm comin'. [marie coughing] [all talking] [gasps] apparently, i missedthe delta waters more than i knew.

[laughing]oh, thank you,thank you. so much troublefor such an old maid. miss, i'd do it again. it's kinda hot out here,anyway. enough of that. it'll go to his head, and i'll geta week of sulking and slow serviceout of him.

sir, he dove into save a woman's life, while the rest of youstood by, checking your watch fobs. (man)there are lawsagainst sassing. better learn thatfor your own good. [gulls squawking] (man)jacques. clean yourself up. i don't want people thinkin'that we dress you like that.

looks likemain street in sodom. how can you make meleave charleston for this? look at themparadin' around. give it time, dear. things are gonna change. [goat bleats] well, is anyone elsefor a swim? allow meto introduce myself. i am gerard gaultier.

my parents have just taken upresidence in a plantation up near pontchartrain. enchantã©e. i'm marie alicot. these are my goodfriends julie gadin and henriette delille. uh, welcometo new orleans. would you do me the honorof allowing me to see you home? we have our own carriage,but thank you.

then at leasti can carry your things. well, well, well. [clears throat] the accent's notfrom the west indies. i thinkhe's from france. you can always ask himat the ball next week. i'm not going to the ball. but...it's been arranged. oh, i sawmy father today.

of course,he didn't see me. i don't want that--not for me,not for my children. (marie) i expect you'll be telling your mother soon. she'll understand. ah, you'veimported rocks? [laughing]they're books. we're teachersat the parish school, and marie's a missionary. oh, wonderful.

this will be difficultto accomplish with dignity. i'm sure you'll be ableto manage somehow. oh, only withyour steadfast belief and encouragement,mademoiselle. (henriette and children)one, two, three, four. (henriette)excellent.that's it for today. au revoir. merci. thank you.au revoir. au revoir.merci. au revoir.

au revoir, merci. [girls chatting] take your seats. simone. i'm so glad we foundyour parish, father rousselon. the cathedral seemed--well, full of foreigners. and we're gladto find you,mrs. morgan, and to haveyour husband-- 'scuse me.

as a warden. (henriette) d. (girls) d. a catechism classfor girls this late? trã¨s bien, simone. slave children? mrs. morgan, slavesare god's children too. we are allowedto teach them at night. bonsoir, father.

(rousselon) bonsoir. (girls) bonsoir, father. this is our neweststudent, simone. her father will bring herto church on sunday. that's my jacques'daughter. i can read, father. very good. well-- teaching coloreds to readrequires permission.

(henriette) god... is...love. repeat. (girls)god is love. excellent. henriette, do you havetheir permission? you know it's illegalto teach slaves to read without their masters'consent. how can they learnthe catechismunless they read it?

how can theytruly worship if they can't readthe bible? do the mastersknow, henriette? god knows. (pouponne)henriette, what is thisi have heard? you are teachingslave children? do you want to hurtyour father? do you realize he does businesswith their masters?

and the sonsof those masters will be attendingyour ball this week. maman, about the ball-- do you want them laughingat you behind your back? do you want themto wash their hands after they've finished dancing with you? [chuckling] (pouponne) henriette, i have asked you a question. [giggles]

[whispers fiercely]no. you will notparade your heart. you want these white bastards to see? unh. come on, ree. she'll blame meif you're not ready. i hate this. you knowhow much i do. ooh, maman was rightabout the green.

do you love him? who? oh, samuel? yes. he has promisedthat we will be together until we're oldand crotchety. but you can't marry,cã©lie. what differencedoes it make if he stays with me?

[sighs]god means us to be marriedtill death parts us, to walk across a square openly,as man and wife. otherwise,we're just being bought. it's--it's like the-- look, ree. think before you speak. (jean-baptiste) what made you think things would be different with us? [door shuts]

(pouponne) jean-baptiste, you made a promise to me. was i naiveto believe in you? and i'vekept my word. i help you raise the girls. cã©cilia is taken care of, and now henrietteis well-placed too. and me, jean. me! i must producelegitimate heirs.

you knew that. it is something i must do! you will beravishing. every man therewill hunger after you, and they will envyyour gentleman, paul cartier, who has assured mehe will provide you with the finestof everything. did he say for how long? and when i see youin the square

tomorrowor the next day, will you see me? you are my beloved children,and you always will be, even if i can't see youagain for a long time. i'm getting married. and thenyou'll leave us. so this is the lifeyou want for me, maman? i will notgo to the ball. i will not meetpaul cartier.

how do you intend to live if you don't goto the ball, my dear? how will we? if you have notunderstood things, your papahas just ended our lives. oh, pouponne,don't be so dramatic. you can keep the slaveand lease her out and the house, of course,too, as i promised. well, at least we won'tbe begging in the square

where you and your wifemight see us. (jean-baptiste) pouponne. (pouponne) oh, jean-baptiste, if this is my house, get out. [cã©cilia sniffles] no, no, no, no. not now. cecelia, you fastenyour sister's gown.

(cecelia)she's right.let's go. we will be lateif we don't hurry. there is no love here. this iswhat we do, ree. we have no choices. [people chatting] mademoisellehenriette delille, je vous presentemonsieur paul cartier. je suis enchantã©,mademoiselle.

shall we? [stately waltz music playing] may i, mademoiselle? [romantic music] monsieur,you took me by surprise. was thereany other way? monsieur gaultier, i have made previousarrangements for this one. but don't worry.

there are plentyothers to choose from. shall we dance...now? i've alwaysunderstood that a lady could chooseher partner. a lady? monsieur, i am committedto a year's support. retire. i'm sure your friendsused to believe that you werea gentleman.

sir? i am sorry. maybei do not understand the way of thingsin america...yet. so this is what's to comeof my steadfast belief and encouragement,gerard gaultier? you saved me. if you had nottaken my hand, i would've been committedto a duel at the oaks.

i'm sure of it. some of the menthat attend these balls are suspect in character. i supposethat's to be expected. you have nothingto say for yourself? forgive me. i only came hereto look for you. (pouponne) henriette. may i callon you sometime?

[whispers]don't look back. be coy. good night. (pouponne)what were you thinkingtonight? you shamed me, henriette. your life is not for me. oh, my life isnot good enough for you. not good enoughfor your father, not good enough for you!

i have no say in this? i have no freedom? you get out. you are his. you are just like him! you just get out. get out, henriette! get out of my house! [bell peals]

[horses whinnying] [dramatic music] [panting] who's there? henriette? are you hurt? i can't live the lifei'm supposed to live. i can't pretend. then you mustn't.

then i can never go home. you are alwayswelcome here, in god's house. god's house? everyone's house. [horse hooves clopping] (henriette)there you go. for you. and for you.

thank you. oh, marie'll look at your leg over there. (rousselon)henriette, may i presentdr. gerard gaultier? i said i would pay a call. you have already met? doctor? i was.i gave it up. (rousselon)dr. gaultier's trained

in the most advancedmedical science, and he has come to help usset up the infirmary. you were giventhe gift of healing, and you gave it up? for what? i'm sorry. i always asktoo many questions. in france, i shareda practice with my uncle, but my patientswere so rich

they could have hiredgod himself to cure them. they certainlydid not need me. but you couldn'tgive it upin your heart. so here you are,helping us. if you will have me. this was your idea? well, no, i-- but father rousselontells me-- (henriette) i just saw a place that would be safe for them.

the people of the parish bring food, and julie, marie, and i serve it every dayfor them. so that's whereyou have been: here. oh, i calledat your cottagemore than once. your sister--cecelia, is it? she would not give meany information, even wheni assured her that my intentionswere honorable.

she means well. i stay with julie now. i, uh...i understandyour mother is ill. is there anythingi can do? it's nothingthat medicine can cure. i apologize. i do not mean to pry. (betsie)miss cã©lie? miss cã©lie!

(cecelia)betsie? maman went mad. she tried to hurt herself. i finally got her settled in bed. she was a wild thing. she was screamingand running. amelia. here. oh, maman. she's screamingand running. go get henriette.

[baby fussing] we'll see youtomorrow, maman, and i'll bring yousome pears. i would prefer if you'd waita few days. she needs to settle inon her own. have you seenmy little sasha? have you seenmy little sasha? they took her,you know.

madame d'orsay, i'm sure these women know nothing about your little girl. come, now. [whispers]forgive me, maman. [sighs]forgive me. [man grunting] [moans softly] ah? much better, huh? that was brave of you,jason.

here. okay? yeah, all better now.off you go. i took the liberty of speaking withyour mother's doctor. the night of the ball, i brokemy mother's heart. i was too proud, too selfish. i couldn't seethe pain of her life.

i'll never forgive myself. henriette. she will bewell taken care of. ohh. what happened? some white folkcaught him readin', sir. reading? they say there's a new law. every week, they publisha new law in that journal.

of course, slaves are notallowed to read it. excuse me. [man moans softly] [grunts] imagineif you weren't here. my class make me feelso ashamed. my own classhas slaves. people choose to befull of love or hate. it's not limitedto class.

well, it seemsmine has chosen hate. well, he'sin god's hands now. you asked mehow i could give up healing. it is answers like that: "it is in god's hands," "it is god's will," "god knows." it is not good enough. i'm a doctor.

i want to save lives. oh, so you believeyou're the healer, that it's all up to you? that's pride, vanity. yet you blame yourselffor your mother's illness. you broke her heart. people do not diefrom broken hearts. maybe that is your vanity. all i know is that

if the spirit breaks,so does the will. we've both seen that. we've also seen peoplefight to live and win. i believe that'sthe true mystery of god. [laughs softly] no science can havethe answer for that. ah, touchã©. [playing plaintive melody] may i be so bold as to claimthis tune as our own?

are you asking meto dance here, without a chaperon? [chuckles] in paris, couples stareinto each other's eyes during the waltz. i might get dizzy. i'll be your center. make meyour still point.

[henriette laughing] that is it. oh. oh, for luck. and if i am good, he will love me forever. oh, i must get ready. my gown is lilac. it has just arrivedfrom paris.

see you tomorrow, maman. today was a good day? yes, she wasmuch better, thank you. maybe we cantake her home soon? you should know: she told me thatshe didn't have a home. that's ridiculous;of course she-- for now, you must be thankfulfor the good days.

[footsteps receding] (jacques)been sick at her stomach, tired all the time. master say she more troublethan she worth. master havin' company. i supposed to begetting more whiskey. 'stead, i'm here. where is her mother? i don't know.

it is timeto tell us. (simone) it's nothin'. master sayit were time to breed me. [breathes raggedly] you're 12 years old. breed you? who he breed you with? he come in the night. and he say...

i'm a woman now. no! (gerard) jacques. do not make it worse. (simone) master goin' free me so his baby can be free too. it's gonna be all right. same thing happenedto her mother, and she wasn'tall right.

(gerard)henriette. henriette. where are you going? to put a stop to this. [knock at door] [door opens] (woman) oh, miss henriette. may i speakto your master, please? well,he got company. tell himit's an urgent matter.

well, what is it? oh, you. the one feeding niggersat the church. if you want scraps,go round to the kitchen. i've come about simone. i have a housefull of guests. i'm her catechism teacher. the lord's prayer,the ten commandments-- i teach her thatthey apply to white people

as well as black. are you sassin' me? adultery is a sin. what the devilare you talkin' about, standin' at my front door,preachin'? does your wife know that yourmistress is a 12-year-old child? (frank) simone is my slave, nothing more. simone is pregnant. frank?what's the matter?

what's she doin' here? just some high-falutin' quadroonconfused about where she's at. she's just leaving. i was just leaving,myself, monsieur morgan. i would be happy to see the young lady out. oh, you will. so you doknow each other. how about that? madame morgan,

your hospitality was bewitching, as always. merci beaucoup. [door closes] [chains rattle] [horses' hooves clicking] [horse chuffs] what is the matter with you? are you mad? perhaps not as mad as maman,

but in my own small way, yes. you dare to challengea man of my class! do you even care to knowwhat he did? frank morgan and his americansare making a new louisiana. they are the future,ma chã¨re. so you dine with them,and you sell to them. you marry one of them,and now you'll become one of them. we must all survive, ma chã¨re.

maman waits to hear from youevery day. may god help you... and your kind. [dog yelping] [plaintive music] allez. bye, papa. [chuckles]we've come for a visit. oh, my.

oh, amelia's grown. ah, she's finallyfallen asleep. i'm goingto put her down. henriette, please.you're my sister. this ridiculous lawabout covering or braiding your hairhas no place amongst family. i am notyour family, samuel. have i offended youin some way?

i will take care of youas my family. i swear. but you're not marriedto cecelia. you know it's onlythat the law forbids it. have you presentedmy sister and your child to your parents? my parents are in europe, and i'm not closeto my family here. you know that.

do they even know you have a daughter? any of them? i cannot changethe way things are. (cecelia)please, henriette. (henriette)is it just, the way things are? this dr. gerard. cecelia tells me that-- he will not betaking care of me either.

oh, i wasn't asking that. i just thought... perhaps he has introduced youto his parents. oh. well. perhaps when the time comes. [coughing] [sobbing] i told masterif he touch her again, he'd best kill me.

and leave simone alone. (jacques)she goin' on and on about hope. any white churchsellin' hope is sellin' lies. jacques, come on sunday. god's ways are mysterious sometimes, but if you open your heartand pray, i believe you-- pray. pray?

pray for what? for things to get better? i did that already. i guess your god must behavin' a joke with me. (gerard)he has a rightto his anger. perhaps we can only heal his physical wounds. (henriette)i will not give up on him. simone'sway too important.

if i come on sunday,will you sit with me? hmmph. mr. morgan and his wifewould not approve. and thatwould be fantastic. what aboutyou sit with me? thought so. can i walk you home,miss delille? that would be fine, if you're willingto wait.

good night, sir. such beautiful hands that do so much. no. but i wantto be with you, to make my life with you. we can't even sit togetherin church, and i won't be your mistress. i--that is--

what was i thinkingcould come of this? henriette, listen. in front ofall of these people, i ask you... will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? if it were only possible. but it is. in france, we canbe legally married.

france. but my mother, my sister,the church, my school. we can work together,side by side, a man and his wife in francewithout this insanity. but i can't abandonmy people. but what about yourself? what about your happiness? gerard, to be your wife--

oh, just to say that:"your wife," it's like a dream come true, but i can't if it meansi'm running away. do not say nojust yet. i will wait. as long as you want, [soprano chanting,water splattering] [drumming] there's so many of them.

must be the rain. i must say,it's most encouraging. we had 20 more today. welcome them,and they will come. we're also workingon the free families. (morgan) father, you start bringing too many blacks in here, collection plate'sgonna get mighty bare, 'cause no white folks'llbe fillin' it.

all colors haveworshiped here together for generations, sir. (morgan)is that a fact? well, maybewe better start havin' two services,then, huh? (betsie)miss henriette! betsie? miss henriette. you must come quick.

is it cã©lie? it's mr. samuel.there's been an accident. (woman)mr. samuel'saunt's coming. ma'am, the hearseis here. you have to leave. but we haven't evenpaid our respects. ma'am,i'm so sorry. i shouldn'thave let you in in the first place.

what-- but--but--i'm the onlyfamily that he has. he hasn't even methis aunt. miss, please. you have to go. why? how can they do this? i'm his family. [bells pealing]

monsieur blanc? i represent the wardensof father rousselon's church. are you aware of what's beengoin' on these last few months? because it just keepsgettin' worse, and all you do is nip at the edges. [children laughing] i'm gonnacatch you. children, children.come, come.

come. (henriette)a...b...c... why are these lay workerswearing habits? they donated their wardrobesto the needy and simply choseto dress in a uniform more practical for their work. the wardens want to put a stopto all of this work. these women are bringingthis parish to life. we must refuse.

i have... for now. but it's rumoredrome will denounce slavery. our position is precariouswith the americans. they wantthe school closed. they want you out. and i see you'vestarted an infirmary. many of those we helpreturn to mass on sunday. the churchis filling up.

with abandoned slaves. what they're doingis so clearly god's work, and we may not be ableto protect them. oh; oh, no,not this one too. you can't give awayyour ball gown. that onemore than any other. no; i'll keep it. you've been speakingwith betsie about freedom. you're giving awayall your clothes,

and next will bethis cottage, and where will thatleave me and my children? there is no worry.god will care for us. and maman? we'll pray for her. everything samuel left to thechildren--our children-- will be givento his white family. is that how godanswers your prayers? after i have this baby,

it would seem that i willhave to attend a ball because i will need to findsomeone to take care of us. i hope i look as bewitchingas you were when i wear green. (woman) are we taking all this, ma'am? and this one too? thank you, ma'am. [rapping] i cameas soon as i heard. it's bad, miss.

she came too soon. gonna diehere in my arms, and that'll bethe end of this. i give up on your god. (simone) papa? is she here? ask her. i don't wantnone of this. baptize my babybefore she die.

i can't baptize the child. i'll sendfor father rousselon. (woman)but she might diebefore then. there won't be time. please, sister. [whispers]please. heavenly father, bless this water with your spirit, and make it holy.

what namedo you give this child? (henriette) henriette, i baptize youin the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost. (simone)she's safe now. [baby hiccups] (gerard) the baby has a chance to survive. you did the right thing.

(henriette)there wasn't timeto ask for permission, was there? and what if my prayersdon't work? no, no, it was right. you changed the worldfor them tonight. oh, gerard, i felt it. i felt it.i really did. you changedthe world for me. do you know how much?

you make me feel hope. you make me feel likei can make a difference. will you come with meto meet my parents? then we can betogether forever? [giggles]yes. oh, vous ãªtestrã¨s belle. cã©cilia let meborrow her dress. they are goingto love you. allez.

[thunder rolls] [goats bleating, dogs barking] (man)whoa. get out of the way! pardon me? move! what? [animal noises] (woman)any otherpeople here?

(man) i have some paying customers. your people are so dedicatedto making us feel inferior. is this our day, then: you poking me with daggers,me hanging my head? if a man insults me, there is no questionof what i would do. i would oil my pistolsand meet him at twin oaks. i know how to be bravefor that. but this--it is likewalking in a fog.

there are no boundaries. the look on their faces--i wanted to hide from it. i do not knowhow to be brave for this. i love you. we'll both have to learn. i'll depend on youfor strength in it. perhaps we shouldspend some time alone before we fight more ghosts. oh, but i putmy dress on,

and i did my hairto meet your maman. she's expecting usfor dinner. i am afraid. you did tell them. and they... they said, um...they wouldtreat you with kindness. pity. respect. respect for you.

their stomachs will turnat the sight of me. then they'll wash their handstwice before i'm gone. i cannot protect youfrom that. i don't want to be protected. i want to be free of it. you don't understand.you can't. gerard, i do believeyou love me. but you can't make medisappear into your world. henriette, please, no.

let me take you back. i didn't recognize you. i used to hearthe angels sing. i can't hear themanymore. they're still here. i'll see youat the funeral. what funeral? you haven't heard,then? heard what?

simone hemorrhagedin the night. she never woke up. [crying] they found her babysleeping peacefully beside her. i heard what you did. i'm sureit gave her peace. [bell clanging] [woman crying] (henriette)is god so wrathful?

sufferingon top of suffering, with no lesson,no reason? i don't understand,father. bonjour, sister. i've sought;i've prayed. i still do not understand. [whispers] bonjour. draw on your faith. we're not meant to graspeverything at once.

[man crying] that answerdoes not satisfy me. i need to know why. i don't understand. he called you"sister." they all do. haven't you heardthem? you've touched them, and so you've becomea sister of the lord.

i didn't ask for it. no; you say god hasn'thelped the suffering, but he has. he gave them you. but-i-i can't-- do you remember the nightyou came to him? you were abandoned, and yet you knewwhere to come. you knew the solaceit could bring others.

what does god wantfrom me? come on, sister. [knocks once] you cannot give mea second chance? let's beginat the beginning. why were youat the ball that night? i was there lookingfor you, henriette. to be your concubine? i want to be ableto believe you always.

then believe me. because every timei visit my mother and see how she was destroyed because she loved a manfrom a different world-- i am notyour father. i could not abandon you. if i have to choosebetween you and my world-- my parents, even--i'd choose you. we can have a real lifein france,

a real marriage. we can be happy. happy. [whispering]yes, ma chã¨re. i will protect you. people will look at usand shake their heads and wish thatthey'd married for love. [whispering]we will change the world. here.

you don't lookvery well. oh, i'm just tired. perhaps we shoulddelay the departure. no, i'm fine,i'm fine. we'll be fine. you just enjoy whatevertime you have together. [sighs]to be loved and to letyourself be loved, to be touchedso deeply, cã©lie.

you told me,but how could i know? you might as welltake some of these dresses. they don't fit meanymore. you have nothing to worry about. gerard has promised to take care of you and maman. he's gonna help youfight for your inheritance that samuelwanted you to have. oh, you're so lucky.

you must write to me the momentyou set foot in paris. write? you'll visit. we expect youat the wedding. oh, gerard's gonna complainabout my rocks, my books. he's always--

cã©lie? [tapping at door] (gerard) henriette, look what i have. (henriette) it's cecelia. her fever's very high. they saycreoles don't get it, but she got it. there's an outbreak of yellow fever.

it can affect anyone. my medical bag is here. gerard, i-- i-i know. me too. it would be nice to havea conversation between us when one of us does nothave to say how sorry we are. [henriette praying softly] the lord is with thee. [whispering]

quinine solutionis very effective in the-- the lord is with thee. blessed art thouamongst women. blessed is the fruitof thy womb, jesus. holy mary,mother of god, pray for us sinners nowand at the hour of our death. amen. [church bells pealing] you gonna prayfor me, sister?

with all my heart. how is cã©lie? the fever brokejust an hour ago. ah, the quininemixture, it was-- i was tryingsomething new. the quinine hadlittle to do with it. but it was the medicinethat saved her. how many times have you givenmedicine to patients and lost them?

but without it? prayer saved her. how can youbelieve that? because it's true. [man coughing] your sister is well. i do not care why. it does not matter why. this is wonderful,

and we can begin to plan again. henriette, do not turn your backon us. i'm supposed to be here. my work is here. but we can doeven more in france. we can work openly,perhaps build a hospital. and you would notbe accused of corruptingthe slaves.

because there areno slaves. we can healbodies and spirits. i prayedfor the answers, gerard. i found outwhat god wants from me. god has been calling mefor a long time, and i can't deny it. i feel god is workingthrough me. you said you wantedan ordinary life, a life with me.

[whispers]i know. we can't have it. and so now there isnothing for me? here, we cannot even marry. what do you want from me? welcome. thank you, sister. these womenare not sisters.

you must notcall them that. you deceive this parishwith those costumes. i'm sorry,but this time, you'll have to stopwearing them. well, what am ito wear? i've giveneverything away. [sighs]henriette. [sighs]do you know what i seewhen i pray? i see the virgin mary,but her skin is brown.

the slaves inthe gens de couleur need to know thatgod is their god too, and we can't just tell them. color needs to be seenwith their own eyes. god wants black facesworking in his church. henriette, there are forces against you,powerful people who can ruin everythingwe've accomplished. we need to go slow.

are we intended to be frightened into submission? marie? you're crying. the bishop has justbanished me from the parish. banished? yes, i'm being sent upriver to teach wealthy childrenon a plantation. (rousselon)the wardenshave pointed out

that it's become illegal for integrated groupsto work together. (henriette) and you knew about this? the bishop is forcedto disband you. so he's decided to playon the side of the masters. they will also closethe parish schools, since slave childrenare being taught with whites. i am next on their list. this has got to stop.

(blanc) as i see by your costume, obedience is not a virtueyou put much store by. please, your excellence, just hear an idea? there's a house. my friends and i havejust enough money to buy it. with donations,there's a building next door that we can fix upand turn into a mother house. you mean to buildyour own church now,

complete with a convent? and we need youto bless the endeavor. as there are no coloredreligious orders, i would be blessingonly an act of your pride. but you've seentheir faces, those hungry soulsthat worshipin our church. you cannot sayyou are not moved. do you expect the catholicchurch of louisiana to challenge the state?

to start a firethat could sweep away what they've leftof their freedom? but the reward would begreater than the risk. even if i believedyou should be nuns, it can take yearsto receiverome's consideration, and then the answercould well be no. i cannot seehow i can help you. perhaps you don't needto appear to be helping us. this church servesa changing community.

why, that soundspositively threatenin'. i understand you have movedto block my appointment of father rousselonto the cathedral. we will not continueto tolerate interference in church business. i understand you fileda lawsuit against us. rather extreme reaction. i thought you should know i also am connected withthe courts down in the delta,

and i can assure youmoney will win out in the end. and i can assure you the rape of a childis considered a sin, even in the delta. there are no secretsin this parish. what about baptizinga half-breed bastard child outside the church? a warden of the churchshould be above reproach,

especially one married tosomeone as pious as your wife. but, as i said, the church is hereto serve the whole community. may i suggest instead we let them builda place of their own? the coloreds? they'll never do it. but we mustlet them build it. and if they fail,they fail on their own terms,

'cause if they don't, there's no tellin'what trouble they'll cause, your excellence. [birds chirping] maman? you're so thin. i thought you promised methat you would eat. and you...you look like a nun. you should wearmore color.

green. it goes so wellwith your eyes. oh. ohh. how we dancedat the ball. your papa never dancedwith another woman after he waltzed with me. [wailing softly] [sobs] (julie) it's hard to imagine this as a convent.

at this rate, it'll take us years to raise enough money to fix it up. we don't haveyears to waste. to be an effective order,we need a place to live, an infirmaryproperly equipped, a school. what about your house? sell my house? the cottage isn'tmine to sell. cecelia needs itto raise a family.

my parents workedthemselves to death to leave that place to me. am i now to considergiving all that up? in the name of god. i think your parentswould be proud to know their legacy is beingused to serve the community. julie, we need to severall of our attachments. and gerard? were you able to saygood-bye so easily?

good-bye? i thought you knew. he's goingback to france, ree, within a month. for coming. i wasn't sure you would. i've been offered a postat a hospital in nice, a teaching hospital, quite experimental.

you'll makea wonderful teacher. henriette, why am i here? uh, my reason... our church has runout of building funds. is that all i am to you? i--no-- you might as wellhave stayed at the ball. that was uncalled for. the truth is, i wantedto know whether you still--

i will always love you. my parents have cut me off for refusing to marry the suitable womanthey have found. a year ago, i might have, but you changed me. so...now we bothwork for the poor, alone, apart. gerard, i'm sorry.

sorry. is that why godmade us twin souls, so we could be so unhappy? such beautiful hands. henriette,it's official. the bishop sayswe can build a church if we can raisethe funds. (men and women)♪ ride on, king jesus. ♪ ♪ ride on. ♪

♪ no one can a-hinder me. ♪ ♪ ride on, king jesus. ♪ ♪ no one can a-hinder-- ♪ ♪ in that greatgettin-up morning, ♪ ♪ fare thee well,fare thee well. ♪ ♪ fare thee well,fare thee well. ♪ ♪ (children) un, deux, trois. [pounding] [man speaking french-latin]

(all)hallelujah. (woman) hallelujah. [people laughingand talking] (woman)praise god. (people)♪ ride on, king jesus. ♪ ♪ no one can a-hinder me. ♪ ♪ is it not illegalfor blacks to congregate? yes, it is. well, somethingwill have to be done.

our first service. giving up my housewas worth it. we may notbe nuns as yet, but the bishopwill have toat the very least recognizeour dedication. um...the bishophas arranged for you to study as novices at st. michael's. he feels you need experienceliving in a religious community. so the wardens got usout of their church,

and the bishop... he will petitionthe vaticanupon your completion. in the meantime, he has appointed meto your church. he's a clever man. our parish isvery lucky to have you. i'm only disappointed we're suddenlyso far from our goal. ree,

remember sister martha, when we werein school? no cross, no crown? we are goingto see this through, until the pope himselfinvites us to rome and says, "you must besister julie. i have heardso much about you." [all laughing] [women singing in latin]

what are you doing? being a nun. ah, that sense of humor again. do you see the chapel? i'd say it hasn't been cleanedthis week. no, we just finished. i'll returnto inspect it... after dinner.

shall we just cut your tongue out and be over with it? julie, what are wesupposed to learn here? how to keepa convent spotless. we could be servingon the outside, teaching. scrub. scrub, scrub. augh!

scrub,scrub, scrub! would you likesome help? (henriette) reverend mother. jesus washed the feetof his apostles. mother superior. (henriette)oh, reverend mother. i'm sorry. there's something thatthese flowers at night reminds meof my mother's perfume.

does it make you sad? when i was a novice,i was too proud to admit my previous lifestill mattered for me. the more i pretended, the worse it felt. i worry that conqueringmy own pride is impossible. that's what the scrubbingis for: to help you sleep. did you love someone? i thought so. i try to forget.

i try to stop. why? do you thinkbecause you're becoming a nun, you stop being a woman? you must bring all of yourself to service, through humanity,which will give you compassion for those who most needto be saved. good night, chã¨re. good night,reverend mother.

father! it's yellow fever. so many are sick. i'm sorry, butthe infirmary is closed. please, father. the hospitals are full. they're eventurning away white folks. um... run to thest. michael's convent.

tell sister henrietteand julie. tell them to comefast as they can run. [people moaning] sister henriette,the hospital full. done turn us away. master morgan,he's sick bad with fever. he needin' tending. (henriette) put him here on the table. i will pay for a bed.

mrs. morgan,the beds are taken. your money won't make a difference here. (mrs. morgan)i can pay for anything you need. your money can't evenbuy quinine. only doctors can get it, and we don't have one here. i'll take care of her. (julie)there are more coming,

white and black. look at this.we need a miracle. short of that,you must rest. marie! [marie gasps]henriette. oh, marie. i heard what'sbeen happening here while i wason the plantation. marie.

[marie gasps]quinine? oh, my goodness. who could've sent youthis much quinine? only a doctor. (gerard)"my dear henriette, "you know my wish is "to give you so much morethan mere medicine. "wheneveryou are in need, "look to your heart,and i will be there.

love, gerard." [labored breathing] please help him. [breathing rapidly] [whispering]please. i'm so cold. [breathing becomes louder] can you forgive me? i'll sendfor father rousselon.

[whispers]sister. i'm--i'm frightened. sister, forgive me. (henriette) i will pray for your forgiveness, mr. morgan. (woman) father! father! father! they're coming to burn the church!

[knocking] (man)fire! fire! (henriette) get everyone out. fire! everyone out. (julie) henriette! (henriette) get everyone out! [fire crackling] come on. (man #1) hurry! hurry!

hurry! (man #1) over here. (man #2) okay. hold onto me. let's go.let's go! i suppose you broughtthe fires of hell right to your doorstep. you have to go now. (child) sister, help!

[people shouting] we have to leave now. (woman) are all the children out? [children shouting] [child shrieks] (man) out this way. everyone up.come on. [fire roaring] [people coughing]

is everybody out? julie! henriette! julie. julie? oh, my god. julie's inside! henriette! julie.god help us!

hurry! hurry! hurry! hurry! let it burn. (man)yeah, let it burn. julie! [debris clatters] [gasping] you are my hope. you are my life.

i love you, and i will die for you. whoa. [timbers clattering] (jacques) sister henriette! (henriette) jacques! look at the angel god has sent us. rest; i'll help you. sister julie.

uh...sister henriette, you'll need funds. let me look and see what's in the coffersof the diocese. oh, thank you,your excellence. thank you, my child. no, wait. let it be. it will give everyonesomething to think about.

sister. master's wife freed usthis mornin'. she paid the feefor all of us: the entire household and the field slaves. oh, god bless her. i always dreamt of this day. i figuredmy first day of freedom, i was gonna sleeptill i wake up.

then i was gonna roll overand go back to sleep again. 'stead, i got my lifepacked up, and i'm gonna beon a riverboatby sundown, and that feels mighty fine. god bless you. good-bye, sister. and thank you for everything. [ringing] (williams)henriette's community receiveda formal religious rule of life,

adopted a habit,and pronounced their vows. they boughtthe old orleans ballroom and converted itinto a sanctuary for education and the needy. today, they continue to servicethe poor, the sick, and the illiterate. captioning by captionmaxwww.captionmax.com

amazing grace my chains are gone lyrics

stanford university. [applause] thank you and good evening. i am professor harry elam, thevice provost for undergraduate education at stanford. and on behalf of thepresident and the provost, i welcome you to tonight'svery special rathbun lecture with our featuredspeaker, miss oprah winfrey. now, i got to tell you thatyou're in for a special treat.

she spoke to studentsthis afternoon, and the generosity, thecommitment, the concern she had in termsof the issues she spoke about touchedall of us there and will touch you tonight. the harry andamelia rathbun fund for exploring what leadsto a meaningful life was made possible by anendowment established in 2006 by the foundation forglobal community, which

was directed by the rathbuns'son, richard rathbun. "harry's last lecture," as it'saffectionately been called, is the title tonight. and a s someone named harry,i think it's a great name. the rathbun fundsupports the mission of the office of religious lifeby helping students and others discover and reflect uponissues of meaning and purpose during their time of potentiallymonumental growth in character and spirit here at college.

in this day andage, when students are driven by thepace of technology and the pressures toachieve, the increasing concerns over employmentafter college, it is all the more importantto have time to reflect, the space to think,not only about yourself but about the greatworld around you. the rathbun fund has createdboth a timeless and timely opportunity to helpstanford deepen the student

experience with a focuson thoughtful inquiry, the pursuit ofethical engagement, and a dedication to making theworld a better place to live. and now to tell you moreabout the rathbun lecture and to introduce tonight'sesteemed speaker, it is my pleasure to introducethe dean of religious life, dr. jane shaw. welcome to memorial church,this extraordinary sacred space that jane stanford put atthe heart of our campus,

and welcome to the2015 rathbun lecture. all that we dohere in this space, in the circle, which isour interfaith space, and at windhover, our recentlyopened contemplation center, is designed to exploretogether as a body, as a community what it meansto lead a meaningful life. in our work as the officefor religious life, we encourage membersof this university to explore bothspirituality and religion.

we support the workingout of ethical values and we host discussions, artsevents, and of course, worship, all designed to help us thinkand practice a meaningful life. for exploring what leadsto such a meaningful life generously supportsmuch of our work. it was made possible by anendowment established in 2006 by the foundationfor global community. the centerpiece is thisvisiting fellow program, which brings notable,experienced, and wise people

to campus each year. it is our pleasure this eveningto welcome and thank the board members and participants inthe foundation for global community, many of whomare here with us tonight and some may bewatching at home. and in particular, we warmlywelcome harry and amelia's son, richard rathbun, his wife lacey,and their two children, ryan and milo. we're so delighted youcould join us tonight.

and now, it is myvery great pleasure, and of course, my privilege, tointroduce the rathbun visiting fellow for 2015, oprah winfrey. [applause and cheers] she has to have a littlemore of an introduction than that, because she hadso many accomplishments. she's known to usas the talk show host, who changed the verynature of interviewing on her show the oprah winfreyshow, which ran for 25 years.

she's known to us asa brilliant actor, who especially starred infilms such as the color purple and the butler. she has harpoproductions and produced the extraordinary film, selma. she's the founderof o magazine, which has 16 million readersthroughout the world. she is an acclaimedauthor herself, with a passion for reading,who has, through her book club,

encouraged so manyothers to discover the pleasure of imaginativelyentering the worlds of others through books. she's won many awards forall her incredible work, including many emmys and mostrecently the presidential medal of freedom. she's an exceptionallygenerous philanthropist who has founded a girls'school in south africa. miss winfrey'saccomplishments are many,

and she would saythat they all emerged from her deep sense of spiritand her spiritual life. so she is with ustonight here to give us the rathbun lecture as one ofthe great spiritual leaders of our time. she encourages millionsto explore what it means to have a spiritual life. and that, she's told us today,is her very, very favorite thing to do.

you can catch her havingprobing conversations with other spiritualleaders on sunday mornings on her super soul sundaytelevision program. you can read her wisdomin her most recent book, what i know for sure. you can engage in deeplearning in her life class as it goes on touraround the country. but this evening, we arefortunate, we are blessed, and we are truly grateful thatshe will be speaking to us

about what leads toa meaningful life. distinguished guests,students, faculty, staff, miss oprah winfrey. that was great. hi, y'all. woo! [applause continue] y'all just don't even know whatthis means to me to be standing in this hall.

in 1970, beforeyou were you even a thought in the mind of godor in the seed of your parents, i was in an oratorical contestas a junior at east high school. and the great victory forus as a state champions was to have our nationalchampionship here at stanford in this very church. [crowd awing] and as i stand her today,i lost the contest,

but i won the prize. [crowd cheering] wow, i know, i came in today andi went, oh my gosh, i made it. dean shaw, thatintroduction moves me, because one of mygoals as a human being has been to evolveto the point of being a student in thespiritual realm enough that i could beable to bestow some of my knowledge, the informationi've gathered over the years

from thousands ofinterviews in such a way that i could callmyself a teacher. and i dared not call myselfa teacher until hearing it from you, and because youhave said i'm a teacher and you are here atstanford, i believe you. i'm going to take that. so thank you. it's been an amazingday here with you all. first of all, i have one ofmy south african daughters,

i have 20 girls in collegein the united states and one of them, [? shadai, ?]is here at stanford. and she's a sophomore. and we came to stanford ithink late 2011 or early 2012, i can't remember. i remember landing onthe campus with her and we didn't know if shewas going to get in yet. as we got into the car andwe're pulling away she said, momma o, these are my people.

and i can understand why. just being here in thepresence of such energetic, stimulated brilliance makesus all want to be better. so i wish i could havegone to this school and i'm thrilled that ihave one of my daughters who does go to this school. i love everything thathappens here in the bubble. and i'm really excited,really excited to be a part of the harryrathbun lecture series,

because i have spent hundredsand hundreds and hundreds and thousands hours talking tospiritual leaders and teachers, and not just spiritualleaders and teachers who have been deemed so, butthousands of people who came from levels of dysfunction, whocame from levels of pain, who were suffering, who werechallenged in their progression in trying to be the besthuman beings they could be. and they allowedthemselves the opportunity to come on our show,the oprah winfrey show

and share their stories. i am one who believes inthe sharing of stories. i believe in the processof sharing, period, because i know that all lifegets better when you share it. and those thousandsof people who have been guests on theshow and many of them were also audience membershave been my greatest teachers. and i would say thatone of my gifts, and it's everybody's jobto know what your gift is.

so when i talk about my gift i'mnot bragging, it's just fact. it's just a fact, it's a gift. hey, he, ha, yes. one of my gifts thati've had since i was a little girl growingup in mississippi, being raised on a tiny littleacre farm with my grandmother, is that i knew howto pay attention. i was a great observer of life. and i grew up believing thati was, indeed, for sure,

god's child. it's because every sundayi sat in our little church down the road, a dirt road fromwhere my grandmother lived, no running water,no electricity. i was saying this to my greatniece who's eight the other day and she said, it sounds likelittle house on the prairie. and i go, it kind of was. no running water, noelectricity, but the church is down the road from us,and we could hear the singing

as i was getting dressedfor sunday school. and i'd always sit onthe left hand side, the left pew in the second row. and i would listen to thepreacher preach about the lord, thy god is a lovinggod, and sometimes he would say the lordthy god is a jealous god. but most important, i heardhim say, you are god's child and through god allthings are possible. and i literally took him athis word, so that by the time

i had to leave my grandmotherbecause she became ill and i was sent to live inmilwaukee with my mother who had other children, i gotbeat up on the playground because when people wouldask me, who's your daddy? i would say, jesus is my daddy. sometimes he's my brother,and god is my father. but what i now know and havelearned that my view of god, although i callthat god in a box and although my visionof god has expanded

to be inclusive of all things. all, all, god isall, god is law, god is all, in all things,not just the guy sitting up with the beard. and now that that viewof god has expanded, i still understand how importantit was for a little colored girl-- we weren'teven black yet, not to mentionafrican american-- you know what i mean, harry.

a little coloredgirl in mississippi for whom there was no visionof hope or possibility, my grandmother'sgreatest desire for me as she had been amaid and her mother before her had been amaid, her greatest desire was that i would grow up oneday and be able to do the same. and she wished for methat i would be able to. and she used to say, i hopeyou get some good white folks when you grow up.

i hope you get good whitefolks who treat you good. so my grandmother had no ideaof the life that i now lead, with good white folkswho are working for me. she just wouldn't get it. [cheering] she wouldn't get it. she wouldn't get it, butsomehow i think she must know. and she's up around inthe spirit realm saying, lord, have mercy.

i didn't see it. but i now know that having thatbelief system, that something greater than me was in chargeof my destiny, of my fate, that it wasn't just me alonehaving to survive for myself is the thing, is the value, isthe rock that has sustained me. so my vision, myperception, my understanding of what it means tobe a universal citizen has grown as icame to understand acts 17:28, my favorite bibleverse that says, "in god i move

and breathe and have my being." so my every attemptin life has been, since i was a littlegirl, to be in that space that i call god, to literallylive in the breath that is god. to live in the breathand allow the breath to breathe me as god. and that is thereason i see i have been able to manage fame, handlethe success, grow in grace, grow in the wisdom and glorythat is offered by that space

that i know to be god, becausein god i live and breathe, i move and breathe,and i have my being. in everything that ido and all that i am comes up and out fromthe center of that space, even when i didn'tknow what to call it. so i have paidattention to my life, because i understand that mylife, just like your life, is always speaking to you,where you are, in the language, with the people, with thecircumstances and experiences

that you can understandand interpret if you are willing tosee that always life, god is speaking to you. now it took me a while toactually really get this and to understandit, but once i did i started payingattention to everything. and one of thereasons why i can now accept the fact that i can offermy gatherings of information and wisdom and call myselfa spiritual teacher,

is that every single person whoever came on my show-- and i hear there was like37,000 guess i've talked to-- a lot of themcame from dysfunction and a lot of them wouldn'tappear to be teachers, but every one ofthem had something to say that wasmeaningful and valuable and that i coulduse to grow myself into the best of myself, whichis what all of our jobs are. your number one job is tobecome more of yourself

and to grow yourself intothe best of yourself. and so i had a lot of greatteachers, as we all do. i mean, old boyfriends aresome of the best teachers. woo, boy i got adoctorate degree from one. i'll tell you about that later. but i was doing an oprahshow about a decade ago. one of my greatest teacherswas a man named john diaz. we were doing a showcalled "would you survive"? and on tuesdayoctober 31, in 2000,

singapore airlines flight 006,a boeing 747 from taipei to los angeles took off with179 souls aboard. four crew and 79 passengersperished in that flight, a total of 83 fatalities. there was a typhoon rollingthrough at the time, and the plane wentdown the wrong runway. now what's interesting,john diaz was on that plane, and he had had several, several,several indications-- which i'll talk about later--whispers that he

shouldn't have gotten on theplane, but he did anyway. he got on the planeand he managed to be one of the survivors. and on the oprah showi was asking him, do you think it was-- whatdo you think it was that you were one of the survivors? and i said, do you think itwas your position on the plane? because he was in first classand he was sitting on the right next to an exit door.

he said, yes, ithink it might have been the position of the plane,and also my quick thinking, he says. and the fact that ididn't stop moving. so i said, you don't believe? you're not a religious man? you don't believe thatthere was some kind of divine interventiongoing on there? he goes, no, i'm nota religious person.

i do not believe itwas anything divine. i don't believe that. i did see, he said, as i gotknocked back into the plane, that it looked likedante's inferno with people strapped intotheir seats and just burning. and it seemed a bit to me, asi turned and looked backwards, like there was a light comingout of the tops of their heads. i guess you could call it anaura was leaving their bodies. and some lights werebrighter than others.

it changed, hesaid, it changed me. it gave me a newkind of spirituality, in a sense, that i now believesomehow, i don't know how, but life continues onsomehow through that light. and i thought, you know,i'm not a religious man, but i thought the brightnessand dimness of the auras are how one lives one'slife, so to speak. so that's one of the majorthings that really has changed with me since then, he says.

i want to live my life somy aura, when it leaves, is one of the brightest ones. i got chills when he said that. so much so, nothing todo but go to commercial. we'll be right back. what do you say after that? i want to live my lifeso when my aura leaves it's very bright. that's one of thosemoments that happens

and you know that it's biggerthan a show about survivors. because i always knewthat when i am moved, at least a million otherpeople might be too. because if i canfeel it and there are 20 million peoplewatching around the world, it means that somebody else alsofelt and heard the same thing. that's what connection is. so i thought a lot about that,and thought about it obviously in thinking about and preparingto talk to you all today.

about how does onelead a meaningful life? because ultimately, isn'tthat what we all want? we want to lead a lifeso that however we transition people can say, wow,that was a bright one, that was a bright light. first of all, ithink that it comes from a deep sense ofawareness about who you are and why you're here. it comes from beingin touch with,

on a regular basis,the appreciation and the holy gratitude thatshould fill each of our hearts on a regular basis, justknowing what a privilege it is to be hereand to be human. close your eyes for amoment, will you please? and breath with me. just close your eyes. and if you will put yourthumb to your middle finger and gather yourother fingers around.

and lets feel the vibration andpulse of your personal energy as you take threedeep breaths with me. inhale, and as you exhale justfeel the vibration, energy, blood pulsating throughyour body, through you. and another inhale. [exhaling] [inhaling] and keep your eyes closed. and let's just thinkabout this day,

this day that you havebeen graced to breathe in and out thousands of times. this day, where many of thosebreaths were taken for granted, you just expectedthe next one to come. but the truth is,there's no guarantees that the next one comes. this day, how youstarted your day, what your thoughtswere this morning. how you've carriedyourself through this day,

how you've been allowed to haveencounters and experiences, some challenging, somemore life enhancing that push you forward another dayof being here on the planet earth as a human being. let's just think about that. after all you've beenthrough in this day alone and the many days inyears past, how you got here to this prestigious, esteemeduniversity, the choices you've made that have broughtyou to this day.

open your heart andquietly, to yourself, say the only prayerthat's ever needed. thank you. you're still here and youget another chance this day to do better and be better,another chance to become more who you were created, and whatyou were created to fulfill. amen. open your eyes. that's how it starts.

that is thefoundation for meaning and purpose in your lifeis to bring yourself back to your breath. in all situations, in allways, in all challenges, to know that the value ofjust still being here matters. it's really bigthat you're here. it's really big,because everybody here has been called from theethers to do the will, to fulfill the highestexpression of yourself

as a human being, andto do that in truth. how do you do that? well, i think you let everystep you take move you in the directionof the one thing all religions can agreeon, and that is love. in all theconversations i've had with so many peopleover the years who run the gamut of allkinds of emotions and emotionaldysfunctions, i've come

to understand that what mariannewilliamson said is true. there's really only twoemotions that count, and that's love and that's fear. and in all of you aremovements through life you're either moving in thedirection of one or the other. in order to have a meaningfullife you have to choose love. and not the schmaltzy,daltzy kind of love, but the kind of lovethat really counts, the kind of love that wheneverything else is going wrong

and nobody even knows you'rechoosing it you choose love. the kind of love that says i'mhere for you, no matter what, you choose love. the kind of lovethat means you make the right decision, even whenyou know the other person is wrong. you choose love, because loveis not just-- it's a verb, and it's everything thatrepresent kindness, and grace, and harmony, and corporation,and reverence for life.

so when you choose whenyou're in a situation where you are mad, youare mad, and you know they arewrong, if you can go to that space of the breath, ingod i move and breathe and have my being, and makethe choice just to move a little closer inthe direction of that which is going to bring you grace,that which is going to honor yourself, and by honoringyourself you can't help but honor the other person.

i've learned to choose love overfear, to choose love and peace rather than choosingto be right. that was a big lesson for me. do you want peace,do you want love, or do you want to be right? for a little while i waslike, i'd rather be right. rather be right witha little bit of love. i am a christian, igrew up christian, raised in the churchall day long on sundays.

sunday school in the morning,church in the afternoon, bible school at night, prayerservice wednesday night, choir practice. i grew up in the church. i would say i don't go tochurch as much anymore. my church is nature from me. my church is my life. i experience churchin every encounter with every person itry to have church.

and i try to live mylife from the tenant of the law, the thirdlaw of motion in physics. if i had only one wise offeringfor you it would be this one. the third law ofmotion and all the laws of the universe actually,are, in my mind, divine laws. and my favoriteis the third law, which says for everyaction there is an equal and opposite reaction. there are lots of differentreligions and philosophies

that call this other things. in this country sometimeswe call it the golden rule. what i know forsure is, it doesn't matter what you do unto others,it's already done unto you. so anybody who's seen themovie the color purple, there's a line in there whenmiss celie leaves and she says to mr., everythingyou done to me-- and she holds her twofingers-- already done to you. that's the third law of motion.

newton didn't knowthat celie was going to articulate itthat way, but everything you done to me,already done to you. so that is the tenantthat rules my entire life. and before thethird law of motion, which says every action there'san equal and opposite reaction, before there's even thethought or the action there is the intentionfor the thought. and if there's one forcefield that rules and dominates

the meaning of life forme, it is living my life with a pure sense of intention. now this came tome because i used to be one of those people whohad the disease to please. i said yes manytimes when i knew i should've been saying no, andthen i would be mad at myself for saying yes. anybody ever done that? you say yes, then you madwhen they come back again.

because when you say yeswhen you really mean no, people follow theintention of the yes. because why do you say yes? you say yes because youdon't want the person to be upset with you. they're not. you don't want theperson to be angry, you want the personto think you're nice. they do.

and that is why theykeep coming back. i couldn't understand it. i just gave you some money,and now you are back. oh, that's because i didn'treally state the truth and so now youthink me giving you the money meant i wantedto give you the money and that's why you're backasking me for some more. so i tested thisprinciple of intention when i first came to discoverit in gary zukav's book

seed of the soul. i say, i'm going to see ifthat intention thing will work for this disease to please,because people are always bothering me. so this is what i learnedthrough intention, nothing is showingup in your life that you didn't order there. if it's there, it's therebecause you needed to see it. so i have a big life, and thingsshow up for me in big ways.

so one day steviewonder calls me. i'm not name dropping,it's true, he called me. no brag, just fact. it was stevie, an hedidn't call to say he loved me either, he wascalling because he wanted something, but that's ok. and i, at the time,this was early on. because when i first startedmaking money and it was my salary or my earnings werepublished all over the place.

i mean the first yeari was like, really? did i make that much money? oh, my god. it was very difficultfor me to figure out where my boundaries were,because i'd grown up poor and didn't have anything. so it's easy when you don'thave anything and people ask you for money. and they say i need $500,and you say, i don't have it,

because i'm just tryingto get my rent paid. it's harder when you'remulti-billion dollar salary is now in the paper, and you geta lot of friends and cousins you didn't have before. so how do you setboundaries for yourself? i was having trouble settingboundaries for myself for even strangers. people would show upat my door in chicago and say, oprah, i left myhusband, please help me.

and i would, becauseshe knows i have it. so, don't try thatnow though, ok. don't try that now,i figured it out! so what i learned is thatoh, the reason why people keep showing up is becausemy intention is to make them think that i'm such a niceperson that you can ask me for anything. you can get me to do anything. i'm going to say yes,i'm going to say yes.

so when steviecalled me this time i thought i'd try outmy first no on stevie. let's start big. he wanted me to donatesome money to a charity, and i didn't want todonate to the charity, because i have myown charities and i care about a lot of people. but the problem is when you havemoney everybody thinks you just want to give to everything.

so every letter i everget starts with, we know you love the children. yes, i do love thechildren, but somebody else is going to have tohelp the children. so i said to stevie,i said to stevie no. and as a person who hasthat disease to please i was waiting forhim then to say, i will never speak to you again. i will never call you.

i will never singa song for you. and he didn't, he just said ok. ok? it's ok? he said, ok, check you later. and what i learned fromthat is, many times you will have angst andworry about things and put yourself ina state, like someone said this morning becauseher phone went off

they were mortified. over a phone, i said? really? you will put yourself in a statewhen the other person really isn't even thinking about you. so learning that icould specifically determine for myself whatthe boundaries were for me, what i wanted to do, givemy money, give my time, give of my service,to who i wanted

to give it to when i did, thati get to make that decision. and just because youget 100 requests a week doesn't mean you have totry to fulfill all of that. just because you have all ofthese demands on your time and on you doesn't meanthat you have to say yes. you get to decide,because you're the master of your fate,the captain of your soul, as william ernesthenley said in invictus. and understanding that reallychanged the meaning of my life

in that i was no longer drivenby what other people wanted me to do, but tookcharge of my own destiny, making choices basedupon what do i feel is the next right move for me. so being able to gocontinuously to that space, that i called the power stationof god, universal energy, the divine flow. being able to tap intothe space where you and all of life andme and all of you

in this room, all beings,all things are connected. we had a meditation thismorning where we talked about entering that space. that space is real. you cannot, in my opinion,have a meaningful life without a life of self reflection, ofspiritual and moral inquiry, and knowing who you areand why you are truly here, spiritual self reflection, tounderstand who you are and why you are here.

and when you understandthe depths of that and you allow yourself to tapinto the space of that which is the force, the universalenergy, the divine flow, and you do that with a sense ofauthenticity that only you can, that only yourenergy can bring, you become untouchable in whateverit is you choose to do. so one of the reasonsi believe that i've been able to be so successful isbecause during the years where we had fierce competition fromother shows and other people

i would always sayto my producers, you can't run their race,you can only run yours. and you really can onlyrun what you're doing. you can't even worry aboutyour own fellow produces, you can only run your own race. that lesson thatglinda the good witch gives to the wicked witch ofthe west when she says, go away, you have no power here,that's a powerful lesson. because i have seen over theyears in so many interviews

and even in my reallife experiences, people losing theirpower because you're giving your powerto other people. you lose your power whenyou try to take control of somebody else'senergy, because you have no power in any energyfield other than that which is your own. and your real job inlife is to figure out how do you master your field.

by consistentlychoosing love, by living in the space ofgratitude, and knowing that that power that youfeel from time to time comes from a source thatis greater than yourself. because nobody gets outof here alone, nobody. nobody is making it alone. and when you are trustingwhen you are afraid, when you are sad, when you areunable to make a decision, when you are challenged, when you aremoving in the direction of all

that which is fearful,it's because you're trusting in your own power. i couldn't get here bymy little baby ego self. when you look atwhere i've come from, a little town, apartheidtown in kosciusko, mississippi in 1957where there were more lynchings of black manper capita than any place else in the world, where youhad to be off the streets, literally, when white peoplewalked down the streets.

where there was novision or hope for you as a black man or black woman,other than being a domestic or teaching in thecolored school. and my ability to step intoliterally the flow and grace that i called god iswhat has gotten me here. and i consistently mine that,because having a spiritual life isn't something that you canattain because you already are a spiritual life. pierre teilhard de chardin said,"we are spiritual beings having

a human experience." i know this to be true. so it's not like you can goout seeking a spiritual life, you already are one. and the real job isfor you to become aware of the soul's callingand the spirit that resides in, above, around,and through you, and be about the businessof fulfilling that. there is no one elsein creation like you.

there's nobody like you. and what you've come to doand what you have to offer is like no other,even if they're all doing the same thing. i met a bunch of people todaymajoring in human biology. i go, woo, a lotof human biologist coming out of stanford. a lot of great ones. and although everybody'sin the same class doing

very similar things,no one brings the level of uniquenessand authenticity that you can bring. nobody does it like you. and understanding thatwhat you have to offer, what you've come togive to the planet is your gift, your offeringin a way that nobody else can and how much that matters. it matters to you, itmatters to the people

that you love, and matters toour planet that you are here. it's just, you know,it's a miracle. it's a miracle thatwe get to be here. and when i think ofmy life and the fact that nobody really kind ofwanted me in the beginning. my father had sex withmy mother one time. can you imagine? that's a powerful seed. woo, honey child.

but one time, one time. and he wasn't in love with her. he said she waswearing a poodle skirt and he wanted to knowwhat was up under there, and she showed himby an oak tree. now i got a yardfull of oaks, i know that's where it all started. and to think that somethingas random as my mother's poodle skirt and myfather walking out

the door at the time. she'd had her eye on him for awhile, so she was working it. to think thatsomething as random as that would create a littlenegro child in mississippi who grew up and had, andhas had, and continues to have the opportunitiesthat i've had. i can assure that isnothing but grace. it's grace. it's grace because i was allowedto step into the flow of it

and let it carryme to this moment. and i'm not telling you whatto believe or who to believe or what to call it, butthere is no full life, no fulfilled, meaningful,sustainably joyful life without a connectionto the spirit. i haven't seen it happen. and the way for sustainabilityis through practice. you must have aspiritual practice. what is yours?

well, for some people itis going to church, that's where they nurture themselves. i believe that creativity,artful expression, prayer, conscious kindness, empathy,consistent compassion, gratitude, allspiritual practices in the way of becomingmore of who you are. so i started agratitude journal, i mean, i was journalingsince actually i was standing here in 1970.

i actually have in myjournal about visiting stanford and what it meantto come here as an orator. and for years allof my journals were filled with he don'tlove me, i can't believe she did that to me, andthis is what happened today. and about the late '80ssomeone introduced the idea of a gratitude journal to me. gratitude journaling has becomea spiritual practice that leads to an enhanced, a moreenhanced and meaningful life,

and you can start it today. and you can, iguarantee, if you did it for a week you wouldsee a difference. because every day, andi'll do it when i go home, five things i write downthat i am grateful for or that brought me joyor opened my heart space. and by practicinggratitude, what you realize is, isthat you wake up in the morning thinkingabout, what are those five

things going to be? because some daysthere's only three. and then you have totake a breath, inhale, that's one, exhale, that's two. ok, i made my five,that's all i got today. so practicinggratitude in a way that allows you to takestock of your life, that's why it's a spiritualpractice, because you're now taking stock of your life.

you're assessing whereyou are spiritually. and in order to maintain a senseof growing yourself forward it requires also beingin a place of knowing that after you've doneall then you can-- there's a wonderful song bydonnie mcclurkin, it says, you just stand. there comes a timein everybody's life when you've actuallydone all that you can do and you really wantsomething so badly

but it still isn't comingforward for you in a way that you feel that it should. i know that what is foryou will come to you. i know that for sure. and i know that many times,when it appears that something is happening to you, it isalways, always happening for you to strengthen you. because my definitionof power is strength over time-- strength,times strength, times

strength, times strength. so i'll leave you withmy favorite story. i said this todayabout the color purple. it's one of my favoritestories because it changed the meaningof my life and changed the trajectory of my life. first of all, when i was doingthe color purple i had just come to chicago and starteda show called a.m. chicago. and i had asked mybosses for the time off,

and i needed two monthsto do the color purple. and they said to me, youdon't have two months, your contract says youonly get two weeks a year. so in order for us togive you the time off, you're going to have togive up your remaining time on your contractto do the color purple. i wanted to do it so badlythat i said, all right, i'll give up the nextfive years of my contract in order to do it.

what happened was after thecolor purple, after i filmed the color purple andthe oprah show was so successful, becoming sosuccessful-- it was actually still called a.m. chicago--the bosses at my channel wanted to renegotiatethe contract. and my lawyer at the time said,remember the color purple. you never want to be in aposition where something is that important to you todo, and you can't do it because the boss says you can't.

you want to be able toown yourself and make your own decisions aboutwhat's important to you to do, and that was something thatwas really important to you. so the fact that i had not beenallowed the time for the color purple is the reason why i madethe decision to take the risk to own my own show. and that has madeall the difference in the trajectory of my career. but let me try toshorten this color purple

story because it changedthe trajectory of my life. i wanted to be inthe color purple more than anything i'veever wanted my life. i read the book on a sunday. i got up, went backto the bookstore, got every othercopy of the book. i passed it out toeverybody i knew. i was clearly obsessedabout the color purple. people see me cominggo, here she comes,

talking about the color purple. here she come again. i literally would walkaround with it in a backpack. i see all these backpacks,y'all are loaded down here. i would walk around withit in a backpack in case i ran into somebodywho hadn't read it. and i'd say, oh,you haven't read it? i have one right here. and as life would haveit, because you're always

drawing things to you,you're drawing energy to you. out of nowhere, supposedly,coincidence, no such thing. but i get a call from a castingagent saying that they're casting for this moviecalled the color purple, this movie called moon song. and i said, are you sureit's not the color purple? and he said, no, it'scalled moon song. because at the time,steven spielberg didn't want anybody to know hewas shooting the color purple.

so i go and auditionfor the movie. i can't believe that godhas allowed this to happen, because i am auditioningwith a character named harpo. do y'all know harpo isoprah spelled backwards? i think that is adirect sign from jesus. but not only am inow auditioning, i'm auditioning with somebodynamed harpo, amazing. when all i'd really askedgod, i'd said, god please, help me get in this movie.

help me get in this movie. i don't know anybodyin the movies. i'm in chicago doing ashow called a.m. chicago. i thought i could be scriptgirl, best girl, best boy, whatever, the lastcredit on the movie. bottom line is, a long timepassed, i call up the agent and the agent said, youdon't call us, we call you, and i didn't call you. i hung up the phone.

i was so upset i decidedto go to a fat farm, and i'm going tolose the weight. that's what theycalled them the time. i'm going to the fat farm. i'm going to starve myselfbecause now all the weight is caught up with me. i know they hate mebecause i'm fat, i said. i'm going to go and i'mgoing to lose weight, and i'm going to try torelease this obsession that i

have with the color purple. i'm going to try to let that go. because now muchtime has passed. and i am on the track,running around the track, and i can hear mythighs rubbing together. [flop, flop, flop] and i start crying, becauseoh, gosh, now my thighs are rubbing togetherand it's raining and my hair is getting wet.

so i started to pray. and i started, i'mpraying and i'm crying. and i'm asking god,actually god, please help me let this go. i'm obsessed, i want it. reuben cannon had told me thatreal actresses had auditioned for that part and theni wasn't a real actress, and that alfre woodardhad just left his office. so i thought forsure alfre woodard's

going to get that part. and i'm running around thetrack praying and crying. and the way prayerworks is, you can pray, but if you don't release it,if you don't surrender it, it goes nowhere, it's justyou talking to yourself. so i started singing this song. do you know thissong? (singing) i surrender all, i surrender all. all to thee my blessedsavior, i surrender all.

i sang and i prayed and icried until i could release the pain, the sufferingof the rejection that reuben cannon hadcaused be by telling me that i don't call you. and then i realized, oh,i'm still carrying it around so i won't be able to goto see the movie so i'm going to now praythat i can bless alfre woodard in the movie. let me bless alfrewoodard so i'll

be able to go see this movie. i start singing again,i surrender all. please don't let me havenow a grudge against alfre woodard who took my movie. let me have peace inmy heart about that. so i pray, i pray, i pray untili'm singing, i surrender all, a woman comes out andsays to me that there's a phone call for you. and in that phone calli was told next day,

show up in stevenspielberg's office, and if you lose a poundyou could lose this part. so i stopped at the dairy queen. but the point of thisstory is surrender. and the point of thestory is i thought i could just be a scriptgirl, best girl, whatever. i was just happy to beanywhere in the film. the point of thisstory is god can dream, the universe can dream,your creation can dream,

the flow of your life can dream,has a bigger plan and a bigger dream for you then you canever even imagine for yourself. when i finished the color purplequincy jones said to me baby, your future is sobright it burns my eyes. and i say the samething to all of you. you stanford studentswith this amazing gift to be at this institutionand let your light so shine, your brilliance. your future's so brightit burns my eyes.

the glory that the universe,god has in store for you is unimaginable to you,you can't even imagine it. you can't even imagine it. if you will surrenderthat which is yourself in alignmentwith the greater self and allow yourself to becomea part of the force of all. take your glory, it's waitingfor you, and run with it. [applause and cheering]