politics

Change Has Come

Welcome Mr. 44, and by that I mean President Obama and not Reggie Jackson. There is a new face on Whitehouse.gov and our entire nation, and really the entire world, is hopeful that a brighter tomorrow is just around the corner. The real truth though is that this brighter world will built not just from the top down but from the bottom up.
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(my view of the inauguration – I watched with co-workers in a conference room in my office)
Yesterday was dubbed a National Day of Service and while some painted school classrooms, some gave blood and some simply served their families by shoveling snow and installing outdoor light timer switches (that would be what I did – okay, that isn’t true community service but it was stilll helpful), others probably just sat at home and did nothing which to me means that they were part of the problem and not part of the solution. If you did not know by now, this country is facing some serious problems and it will take serious effort to resolve them.
As Martin Luther King Jr said, “Everyone can be great because anyone can serve.” President Obama is trying to help usher in a new era in service and we can be what Obama and others are dubbing the Service Generation. This is what the Bush Administration talked about post 9/11 but never truly did anything about. I strongly feel that this call to service is a call we need to embrace. The fabric of our nation is torn but not unmendable. Giving ourselves to the greater good is one such way to make this repair.
To that end, Be The Change Inc is just one organization that is helping to keep this “Change” momentum that started during Obama’s campaign going. Check out their site and maybe you’ll sign their community service pledge or find an organization to which you will donate your time and/or money. The saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day” and our nation’s problems haven’t gone away just because Obama is now the President – no matter how hopeful you are this evening. We all need to pitch in to do what we can to leave behind a world that is better from the one we inherited. That is both our burden and our challenge and its a realistic, not an impossible, goal. Obama’s inaugural speech was a call to arms, a call I plan to heed. I urge for you to do the same.
Now, after all of that seriousness, some humor.
First off, for those who thought at first like me that Obama screwed up his oath, it seems that Chief Justice Roberts was the one who messed up the oath of office but that was because Obama sort of jumped the gun.
Second, Rev. Joseph Lowery’s closing benediction kicked the crap out of Rick Warrens weird opening benediction (Why did he say the Shema in English? Why did he enunciate Sasha and Malia the way he did? Why did he use 4 different names for Jesus?). Below is the closing part – I for one was enthusiastically saying “Amen!” at the end along with the millions present on the Mall:

We go now to walk together, children, pledging that we won’t get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone, with your hands of power and your heart of love.
Help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree, and none shall be afraid; when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around — (laughter) — when yellow will be mellow — (laughter) — when the red man can get ahead, man — (laughter) — and when white will embrace what is right.
Let all those who do justice and love mercy say amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: Say amen —
AUDIENCE: Amen!
REV. LOWERY: — and amen.
AUDIENCE: Amen! (Cheers, applause.)

Good luck POTUS. You’ve made me hopeful for my future, my family’s future and most importantly my daughter’s future. Please do not squander this trust.

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