Inauguration-Yes!

It is wonderful to see Barack Obama as he ascends to the presidency to serve as our president. It is only a part of the dream. Getting the country really together is the real thing which I hope will happen in the next few years.

As I look at the sea of people attending this inauguration, the security, preparations, etc. reminds me of the inauguration of President Lyndon Johnson in 1965. I happened to be in D.C. at the time, in the seminary at Catholic University. We were able to take a city bus to down town, walk the mall freely. We were able to stand within eye sight and hearing range of the inaugural proceedings, and after that, we walked the two miles to a grandstand seat near the reviewing stand (someone had given a bundle of tickets to the seminary rector). It was thrilling, it was simple, and fun.

But it wasn't that memorable. LBJ was voted in by a landslide. He was an incumbent president, who succeeded the popular JFK upon his assassination. (JFK seemed to achieve popularity after he assumed the presidency winning by a handful of votes that swung Illinois into his column in 1960.) Barry Goldwater with his conservative ideas and agenda did not impress the American electorate, and was badly trounced by LBJ. But Lyndon Johnson did not really capture the minds, hearts, and imaginations of the people. It was not a change time, but a time for when the people wanted stability and security.

We probably got more from Johnson than we ever could have hoped for: civil rights legislation, medicare and medicaid, and the unfortunate deeper involvement in the Vietnam. By the end of his four years, civil rights protests morphed into marches and demonstrations against the war, violent government reactions, and the assassinations of Martin Luther king, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy.

We greet Barack Obama with tremendous enthusiasm, and a prayer for the great change that we anticipate. Yes!

Happy New Year

The official New Year began a few days ago, with little fanfare. One resolution I have made is to use all the flour, yeast, and other ingredients that have been laying around here unused for the past year. Out with the old, in with something fresh!

Maybe the world, the country, and all of us ought to think in this mode. Out with the old clothes, in with the new. Out with the old ideas, in with some fresh ideas. Out with the old prejudices, in with some openness to other viewpoints.

It's amazing how freeing it is to let go, start over, refreshed and ready. It is not giving up the roots, or the memories, or practices. These are important to maintain our identity. Rather it is adding something to ourselves, growing to be stronger, more open, to the sky above, and the earth below.

Out with the old, in with the new! Happy New Year!