2 posts tagged “inauguration”

Tuesday was a wonderful culmination of dreams and hopes for our family. We are a political group. I married my husband, in fact, because the first time we went for coffee, he spoke so eloquently and interestingly on world affairs. And that vocabulary! Don't get me started. I knew from that evening in the Village over capuccino, that I would one day marry that man.

And now we have a passel of kids who were given exposure to newspapers, political discussions and current events with their Gerber peas and carrots. No small wonder then, that we all waited for the inauguration. I first spotted Barak Obama at the DNC in 2004 when he gave the keynote address. I knew then, that he was destined for greatness. I turned to Honey and said, "Okay, how soon can he run for president? He's it."

And now he is indeed  it. Leader for the United States, Leader of the Free World, Grand Poobah, the Great Kahuna. Wow. And he has inherited a pile of problems both internationally and nationally. It is a perilous time in the world and we are in the middle of an economic meltdown the like of which has not been seen in our lifetimes.

But the thing is, he can inspire people. Even people who didn't vote for him are willing to follow him because he is a leader. He has the indefinable specialness. Charisma. But more than that, President Obama is smart. He is a thinker. (Whoa. We haven't seen that in a while, have we?) The man not only reads books, he writes them. He is a scholar. He wants to build bridges with the world, not just bomb it. And he can accomplish so much not by doing it himself, but by inspiring each one of us to make it all happen.

I am a religious person and I have been praying fervently that God gives President Obama the guidance to make the right choices for our world because surely the things we do as a nation impact for good or evil what happens on the rest of the planet. I pray God protects him and his beautiful family. I pray that President Obama leads us into a brighter future using green technology that preserves the earth, leads us to creation of more good jobs, leads us out of our morass of selfishness and me-firstism, leads us to be the best we can be and to share our wealth with all God's creatures.

I don't know how any one person can live up to all the expectations put upon this man, but I pray God makes it possible, because now more than ever we need a great leader and President Obama may well be the one.  

As yesterday, January 15, was Martin Luther King's birthday, it seemed only fitting that I watch the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech with my children. I have heard and seen the speech before, of course, both as a young person as an adult. This time, however, I had a deeper, more profound reaction.

The speech is, of course, beautifully crafted. The way he uses the words of  "America the Beautiful" to draw every listener in and make us feel a part of it. The lyric turns of phrase like  "work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive"; and "we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream"; and "with this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood".

Dr. King was speaking about race relations in our nation at a time when the least of the egregious treatment of African Americans forced them to drink at separate fountains, and sit at the back of the bus,  before the Civil Rights Bill was passed. I imagine what Dr. King would say today on the eve of the inauguration of our first African American president. We have so far to go, but thank God, we have come a long way from Alabama in 1963. Forty-five years have seen many improvements in race relations and conditions for people of color. White and black children do hold hands and play together, in some places, anyway. Even though we have much left to do to make his dream a reality, we have much about which to rejoice.

The other thought I had as I watched the speech, was that while so many aspects of his dream have come to fruition in my lifetime,  I can't help but think about the other places in the world where fear, racism, hatred, oppression and cruelty continue to flourish. Will any of those situations be alleviated in my lifetime? Or my children's? Will child soldiers in places like Rwanda, Chad and Philipines become a thing of the past? Will child labor in Pakistan and China be eliminated? When will women no longer be sold into slavery? Will the Palestinians be free to live in their land, unmolested and unimpeded by others? When will the richest us offer a hand up to the most impoverished among us? 

If only we could "lift our [world] from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood." If only, indeed. In the meantime, I will try very hard to heed Dr. King's admonition not to "wallow in the valley of despair".

.