Speaking of paradoxes

"I find it interesting that the meanest life, the poorest existence, is attributed to God's will, but as human beings become more affluent, as their living standard and style begin to ascend the material scale, God descends the scale of responsibility at commensurate speed."
- Maya Angelou

(courtesy Sojourners)

Much to do . . .

However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will -- unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself -- not one step will you advance on the road to perfection.

- St. John of the Cross, Spanish mystic, friar, and priest (1542-1591)

(courtesy Sojourners)

I'm in the black

But I'll be in God's house at FedEx tomorrow.

Sometimes I feel like I don't know
Sometimes I feel like checkin' out
I want to get it wrong
Can't always be strong
And love it won't be long...
Oh sugar, don't you cry
Oh child, wipe the tears from your eyes
You know I need you to be strong
And the day is as dark as the night is long
Feel like trash, you make me feel clean
I'm in the black, can't see or be seen
Baby, baby, baby...light my way (alright now)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way

You bury your treasure
Where it can't be found
But your love is like a secret
That's been passed around
There is a silence that comes to a house
Where no one can sleep
I guess it's the price of love
I know it's not cheap

(oh, come on)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way
(oh, come on)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way

Oh...ultraviolet...
Ultraviolet...
Ultraviolet...
Ultraviolet...

Baby, baby, baby...light my way

I remember
When we could sleep on stones
Now we lie together
In whispers and moans
When I was all messed up
And I had opera in my head
Your love was a light bulb
Hanging over my bed
Baby, baby, baby...light my way
(oh, come on)
Baby, baby, baby...light my way

Ultraviolet... [Repeat 4 times]

Baby, baby, baby...
Baby, baby, baby...
Baby, baby, baby...
light my way
[Repeat 3 times]

Baby, baby, baby...light my way

first time played live: 1992-02-29: Lakeland Arena, Lakeland, Florida
last time played live: 2009-09-26: NBC Saturday Night Live - NBC Studios, New York, New York

Thanks to Macphisto for the lyrics and information.

Foxworthy, Kids, and God

The most important lesson I have learned from my own kids is that they have given me a small glimpse of how God must feel about us. You know, your spouse is capable of doing something where you wouldn’t love him or her anymore, but your kids aren’t. It doesn’t mean you don’t get angry or frustrated with them, but you cannot not love them. They’re an awesome gift. And I kind of think that’s how God looks at us, like, “Oh, good grief, you’re so stupid, you’re driving me crazy, but I still love you.”
(From Parade, 9/20/09)

Must see for Tori and me

. . . When You Think about It

R.I.P. John Hughes

We'll never forget about you.

Yeah

Wait. Whoa. Chris Isaak's 53??

Enjoyed this short Q&A with Chris Isaak, like the opening banter:

Is it true you were the homecoming king at your high school [A.A. Stagg in Stockton, Calif.]?

No, no, no. [Laughs] I was student council president. I even had my own office. I was a cheerleader, too. I found out about cheerleader camp and heard that there were about six guys and 3,000 girls, so I signed up. It was a precursor for a rock-and-roll career.

And what a wise mom he has:

Well, heartbreak is my forte. But I tried to make it a balance on this record. There's some really upbeat songs like "Big Wide Wonderful World." And "We've Got Tomorrow." You know my parents have been married 60 years and I asked my mom, "How do you stay together?" And she said, "You don't leave." It's really simple.

Probably good to stay away from those who leave from the get-go . . .

'Best Wedding Entrance Ever'

Excuse my fear of my child, or me, getting sick

Apparently, my need for health care coverage is a threat to the comfort of certain 'Christians.'

Refreshingly, Prof. Vigen gets it so very right:

. . . If we are a people shaped by our respect for life and the dignity of the human person, how can we not be at the front lines of health care reform? Even more, why do many of us oppose a public option for health care?

The Gospels overflow with stories of Jesus caring for people in need--not only the fortunate few, but whole gatherings of people--hungry masses, gaggles of children, and scores of the infirm. In one instance, Jesus healed too many to count (Luke 4:40). If we take Jesus seriously, then our obligations to the naked, hungry, beaten, suffering, and vulnerable are hard to deny. This is not new or revolutionary--Christians have understood this duty for centuries; it's why the first hospitals in the West were founded by religious communities and why so many doctors and nurses were also priests, monks, nuns, ministers, or lay members. . . .

Consequently, Christians are called to embody this grace for others--friends, family, neighbors, and strangers alike. Jesus did not favor V.I.P.'s, societal insiders, the affluent, or people with the best paying jobs. But that is exactly what our currently-fragmented health care system does. Significant numbers of people go bankrupt every year because of medical costs. Thousands of others are being cut off of charity care because hospitals and doctors can no longer afford to be generous. Others delay seeking care or are refused care because they don't carry the right or adequate insurance. Jesus cared for whoever needed attention the most--regardless of status, wealth, or employment. The parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) shines a spotlight on the responsibility to care for the stranger (and to pay the bills!).

Are we willing to put our money where our scriptures are? Health care is not free. I ask only that we shoulder one another's burdens. . . .

On my short list

'Just One Day'

Yeah. I want to see this.

Love Mendes, ever since American Beauty. And after the lack of much original thinking in his non-ground-breaking Revolutionary Road -- saved only by brilliant performances by Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, and the one who stole the show in a character who almost revealed Mendes's hand too much, Michael Shannon -- I am really looking forward to him showing us what made us love him in the first place: in Away We Go.


Yet, the cliched design of the movie's website and credits, etc., can't help but remind me too much of Juno and other such non-indy indy films. Mendes doesn't need that help to drum up an audience.

Not the ukelele I'm used to hearing

Very cool.


and part two:

A necessary apology

Humbling to admit your past wrongs, and that the opinions or sentiments you once held are not right. While I am pro-life still, I do not believe the issue is handled through legislation -- I believe it's counterproductive, just creates backlash. But I believe Frank Schaeffer is right in that the rhetoric, however unintended, has fueled the wrong passions in the issue.

Compassion and love -- and grace -- should always be the answer. From Frank Schaeffer's column:

Like many writers of moral/political/religious theories, my father and I would have been shocked that someone took us at our word, walked into a Lutheran Church and pulled the trigger on an abortionist. But even if the murderer never read Dad's or my words, we helped create the climate that made this murder likely to happen. In fact, it has happened before. In 1994, Dr. John Bayard Britton and one of his volunteer escorts were shot and killed outside an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Fla., by Paul Hill, a former minister and an avid follower of my father's.

Angry speech has become the norm in American religion from both the right and the left. Words are spoken which, when taken seriously, lead directly to violence by the unhinged and/or the truly committed.

'Up' Is More Real than Corliss Realizes

My daughter and I have anticipated seeing this film since seeing the previews in December before watching 'The Tale of Despereaux.' And after reading Richard Corliss's review, I am anticipating it all the more.

But there's one line in his article where I believe, after reading more of the storyline of this upcoming film, Corliss could not be more wrong: "Up isn't realistic..."

Of course, I know he's referring to the depictions of the characters. But reading the intentions of the storytellers and the background of their characters, you don't have to be a crotchety old widower to relate in a deep and meaningful way.

Can't wait for May 29.

"... or snacks"

Love it.

'Constructive Summer'

Much needed positive thinking at such a time as this. (Thanks, Steve, for the reco.)

Free Roxana Saberi

We need our newspapers and general media to survive, not the least because of invaluable journalists like Roxana Saberi.

Freedom of the press matters.

Free Roxana.(Join the Facebook group.)

Our human battles

' . . . "I loved that idea of animalistic chaos and following our own desires,” Jackman says. “I think Wolverine represents that in its most allegorical sense. He’s a man who battles between the animal and the human, between the chaos in him and the self-control he must have. We all deal with this to some extent. At which point should we let go and do what we want to do, and when should we submit to rules? Coming to terms with our true natures and who we really are has always been a fascination to humans. I know it fascinates me." '

(Hugh Jackman)

'I Believe'

(HT Steve Beard)

Not always 'Linear'

The pizza was the bread, and the wine completed the sacrament I was taking after more than a year since I took my last. The hymn, “At the moment of surrender”; the icons provided by a Dutch photographer.

I was in the midst of seeking Him in a Church called Home, but not yet welcomed back, it had been longer than is comfortable since I took my last communion. I’ve been hungry, and I’ve been thirsty.

And I’ve been at war.

I’ve said to others, I envy Job. Why would anyone, though, envy a man beset by pain on every side? Because he overcame. With God by his side—by placing himself by His side—he overcame.

My son’s father wonders, though not explicitly, how I would pursue a faith he believes is constricting. To begin, I do not find it a trap. I see doors more widely open, and a true sense of reverence for the One with Whom I’m at war. There’s a greater, more humble sense of His grace and of His mystery. And those whose faith is great are not the ones, necessarily, whose lives are squeaky clean and faith unquestioning. But quite the opposite.

That not to say the appeal of coming Home is that it’s easier to live there. But quite the opposite: It forces one to confront all that is uncomfortable about belief. It forces one to relinquish control. To accept that what we think is, is not necessarily so.

And so, He made my Grenache into wine, my pizza dough into bread—and once again confounded my belief, my doubt, my war, and held His arms more widely open again.

And so I continue to walk toward Home, where once again, I can drink of the wine and the bread of His promise.

Some "Party"

From Prof. Benjamin Carp on the "tea parties" last week:

In Boston in 1773, the men who boarded the tea ships had to conceal their identity or risk punishment -- perhaps even being hanged for treason. Last week, the merry protesters chatted with journalists about their complaints, then folded up their "Welcome to the Second American Revolution" signs and went home. The original Tea Party had helped make free speech possible, but these modern protests didn't seem likely to change the world just yet.

A representative government, unlike a monarchy, must listen to the people -- otherwise we are indeed poorly represented. But it should also be careful not to overreact -- either by punishing dissidents or by conceding too much.

Beetlejuice!

My daughter (2nd row, 2nd to the right of the director) playing clarinet last summer at band camp.

Always love a good Peeps show

My personal favorite from the finalists (check them all out):

'Nothing changes -- ever'

Indeed, it was just a scented wind ago
(But another day, another year)
When a young boy snatched at a
hover fly, and clutched
In crumpled hands, the empty air.
Nothing changes -- ever.
The insect drones a lazy paean to the sun
In the molten noon, and there is not winter.
But the brook is ice and the leaf is mold
Till the grass is sweet again.
How to measure time --
Earth reborn, and flesh a year dissolved.
Again full cycle, and the fly is gauze
on the garden walk --
And childhood's done, with memories.

--from 'Poem' by Roger Fogelman.

When I need a laugh

I read this text from a friend, which I kept because it was so random and funny:

There is a drunk guy at the bar playing a guitar he just won at hardtimes. He has no idea how to play it and he's singing the song '[friend's name]' at the top of his lungs. Oh, and he keeps referring to me as his seductive bartender. I so need to get out of here.

Classic.

We have to wait until October to see it??

Cannot wait . . .

The Poor, for Thought

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist" - Dom Helder Camara, former Archbishop of Olinda and Recife, Brazil.

(courtesy "Verse and Voice of the Day," Sojourners)

Makes you feel safe

I absolutely love 'Rescue Me.' Not the least because of crazy stuff like this.

Rescue Me: Special Presentation - Short Episode: Courageous Men

Random. And Freaky.

Erin go Bragh!

Decorate your home, and yourself, at the same time

Want to give your place a unique look and be in the know before everyone else? Hang one of Angela's photos on the wall. (Yes, I'm biased. Never mind that.) One sample:

Want a beautiful, totally cool piece of jewelry no one has? Check Lisa's fabulous stuff. One of my faves:

How do you make this mistake?

Regarding the daycare provider who gave children windshield wiper fluid, thinking it was Kool-Aid, one toxicologist remarked, “I think the take-home message is not to have these products in the kitchen or where you’re doing any kind of food preparation.”

Or, here's a wild and crazy idea: Read the flippin' label, you twit!

Let's go, fellas

Crazy!

'Breathe'

Absolutely Magnificent

The song I can't get out of my head now

On Ash Wednesday

I tied myself with wire
To let the horses run free
Playing with the fire
Until the fire played with me

The stone was semi precious
We were barely conscious
Two souls too smart to be
In the realm of certainty
Even on our wedding day

We set ourselves on fire
A girl could not deny her
Its not if I believe in love
If love believes in me
Oh believe in me

At the moment of surrender
I'm falling to my knees
I did not notice the passers by
And they did not notice me

I’ve been in every black hole
At the alter of a Dark star
My body s now begging
Though it’s begging to get back
Begging to get back
To my heart
To the rhythm of my soul
To the rhythm of my consciousness
To the rhythm of yes
To be released from control

I was punching in the numbers at the ATM machine
I could see in the reflection
A face staring back at me
At the moment of surrender
A vision of a visibility
I did notice the passers by
And they did not notice me

I was speeding off the subway
Through the stations of the cross
Every eye looking every other way
Counting down till the pain will stop

At the moment of surrender
A vision of a visibility
I did not notice the passers by
And they did not notice me

U2 "Breathe"

From 'No Line on the Horizon'


(Thanks to Kenneth Tanner for the link.)

Random First Thoughts on NLOTH

Note: I’m no music critic and haven’t read the tons of reviews and background info that’s already out there on U2's latest, 'No Line on the Horizon.' This is pure first-impression, just first-listen reactions to the music alone.

1. NLOTH: interestingly, somewhere around the 2:45 mark, reminded me of my friend Nathan’s crooning. You’re in good company, Nathan. Then as it went, to me, there was a harking back to younger days of U2. Very classic, yet very now. Timeless.

2. Magnificent: Bono’s simply at the top of his game. His voice is large and beautiful in this track. Otherworldly.

3. Moment of Surrender: This one just made me introspective. It’s very personal. They reach inward both with voices and music. A little close to home.

4. Unknown Caller: Guitars—just wow.

5. I’ll Go Crazy if I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight: While the lyrical style is so familiar, Bono sounds like he’s really trying some new things in the sound of this. It’s a little un-U2, in that it’s got a sound that is more within the now, as opposed to a classical, timeless sound. Love it.

6. Get on Your Boots: intentional single, but fun. Crowd-pleaser like ‘Elevation.’

7. Stand Up Comedy: This one’s really fun. Lots of smiles. One to crank up. [Edit: A brilliant line--"Stop helping God across the road like a little old lady."]

8. FEZ-Being Born: I think I’ll have this on repeat. Just phenomenal. Surreal. Probably my favorite.

9. White as Snow: First impression from the title is a biblical reference. And listening, there’s almost something Christmasy in its sound; reminded me of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” Beautiful.

10. Breathe: Teensy bit Matisyahu-esque in the beginning with the rapid-fire words. I’ll be blasting this in the car with all the windows down this summer.

11. Cedars of Lebanon: All about the words, like the album as a whole. This one just keeps you thinking. Required listening for every world leader.

Overall, this seems a more reflective album, something a 14-year-old who’s unfamiliar with U2 would be out-of-the-loop on regarding the band, and thus turned off by the group. That high-schooler would be missing out. A diehard U2 fan listens to this and is brought back to U2’s beginning, and to their experimental period, and to the last couple albums. This is a culmination, and a stretching still further forward. They’re simply at the top of their game. This is large music that is beyond the time it’s in, beyond the trends, beyond the genre. It is no mere entertainment.

Five years ago with the release of ‘How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb,’ I tried to be realistic: I said, U2’s got a good strong ten more years, and then they should go when they’re at the top, and not become a (albeit respected) curiosity like the Rolling Stones. Well, let’s tack on another ten years now.

(Special thanks to Beth for allowing me to listen in.)

Ok, yes, I'm a little obsessed

Now, THIS Is an Encore

Chris Martin, Brandon Flowers, and Bono . . . oh, to have been there.

Thanks, Steve, for the link.

The Go Sheilas

Thanks, Steve.

Convicting, and possibly enlightening

Does the compassionate life not demand that we be present to those who suffer; does it not require that we enter into solidarity with the poor, oppressed, and downtrodden; does it not motivate us both to move into the thick of life and to experience the hardships of existence in solidarity with the outcasts?

- Henri Nouwen,
Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life

(From Sojourners "Verse and Voice of the Day")

E*Trade Baby

Hysterical.

Wise Words

"... I can see that it is so wrong of us to compartmentalize us and to label people. I am hoping that through all of this we'll learn how to, instead of label people and put them in categories, that we'll learn to really listen to each other and really see each other and have compassion for each other. Because the last thing we need to do is burden people who are just trying to work out their lives." -- Gayle Haggard, on the complexity of life.


(image from adamsacks.com)

When the Clouds Eventually Part

I read two articles recently from a past Sunday Washington Post (yes, I’m reading it some ten days later, and yes, I saved it that long—such is the life of a single mom who loves her Sunday Post) that got me thinking about the “what next?” in our society and economy. It’s easy right now to get down about it all, with talks of liquidations and layoffs, rising unemployment rates and foreclosures. Believe me, I know, as I’m in that hunt for gainful employment along with so many. And then I read these two articles, and as I unnervingly tend to do (unnerving, that is, at least to myself, and doubtless other would-be cynics), I had an idealistic thought, and a tingle of excitement crept in.

These two articles had seemingly little to do with each other, but then, you could see how they could touch something in all of us.

The first was a feature on director Kelly Reichardt, whose film Wendy and Lucy is now in theaters (though, more likely, the smaller arthouse ones—but it should be more widely released, because we really need to open our eyes). The movie is not getting rave reviews, but rather comments about it not going anywhere or giving the viewer “enough” to go on about the central character, Wendy. Now, I will say, I have not seen the film. So I cannot judge it on that. But the filmmaker’s intentions are definitely laudable.

She made the film well before the economic recession. The idea came to her and co-writer Jon Raymond, actually, after Hurricane Katrina. "I called Jon Raymond after hearing an interview where someone used the proverbial 'pull yourself up by your bootstraps' image,” said Reichardt in the Post, “and we were musing over what happens if, like Wendy, you have no safety net, you have a nothing education, you don't have family support, and certainly there's no trust fund. How do you pull yourself up by your bootstraps?” Good question, and relevant today particularly.

I have the feeling some reviewers, even if they realized that knowing next to nothing about Wendy is Reichardt’s point, are still missing the film’s beauty. (Again, I realize I need to see it to determine whether the film meets the director’s intentions. Anyone want to babysit for me??) Writes the Post’s John Anderson, “But are the economically distressed defined strictly by their circumstances? Is poverty really just a condition? Such an approach deprives Wendy, already deprived of almost everything else, a narrative, something that would make her singular and incontrovertibly human. We get the whole point. We just don't get the whole woman . . . ” I’m not so sure, though, that Anderson and others do get the point.

I don’t think the film is about Wendy and her dog. I think the film is about the audience—about us. From the Post: “ 'Wendy and Lucy' asks the question of what we owe each other, and what's our responsibility to each other?" says Reichardt. “Wendy is a stranger: We don't know where she came from, and people have to decide in the moment where they meet her what their obligation to her is. Or maybe there is no obligation. Is it every man for himself now?” To repeat, we, our, we again. I think this film, in its intent anyway, is more about a look in the mirror.

How are we going to see those around us? Yes, Wendy is a “whole woman,” a person with more depth than we apparently are allowed to see in the film. But does that mean the film failed to develop her? Or that we failed to see ourselves? Maybe I’m getting too obscure. But maybe not.

We look at people’s circumstances only and define them by that alone, regardless of how they got there or how they view their own actions. And in so doing, we keep them down—if those circumstances are low—or falsely on a pedestal, if they’re high, equally limiting people in their situation (think Bono, trying not to look ridiculous as a rich rock star while helping the world’s poor).

Ok, enough on Wendy. The second article was by a Slate columnist on the liquidation of so many well-known chain stores: Circuit City, Linens’n’Things, Sharper Image, to name a few. You’ve heard about the rest. It’s as if the strip-mall landscape as we know it has changed forever. But what next?

We could see ourselves in a place of hunkering down, saving up—what did they hoard during the Depression? Aluminum? Or, we could (I hope someone is) see this as a chance for a fresh start, a chance to do business—and community—differently. Perhaps whole new ventures with completely innovative ways of operating will crop up to fill the void after all the going-out-of-business sales.

Another part of Wendy and Lucy (yes, I realize I said above I was finished with it—tough) was the road trip aspect and the sense of looking for the American Dream, in caps. Again from the Post: "For 'Wendy and Lucy,' I spent six months looking at the parking lots of supermarkets," Reichardt says. She depicts an America where corporate branding is banishing local color. "When I was a kid we used to do a road trip every summer from Miami to Montana," she says. "You really knew what state you were in by the radio and all these things that made each state particular. Now, between New Jersey and Laramie, Wyoming, it doesn't matter where you are, it's all the same: Taco Bell, Days Inn."

Maybe now is the time to move beyond the ubiquitous chains that alienate us by making us all the same, mired in materialism, and toward “some sense of community [that] can bring people back together,” as Reichardt puts it. To start, we would see the Wendy’s and their dogs not as circumstances, but as people. And then, when the “gathering clouds and raging storms” that Obama described pass, when the clouds finally part, a more appealing and realizable American Dream will shine through.

So I guess that’s a call to entrepreneurs to churn the wheels in their minds, and neighbors to open their eyes and hearts to each other. Wow, that was really sappy, but who cares?

'We Are All the Same' by Sam Martin

(Thanks to Erik L. for sharing this. Erik describes it: "A music video from my friend Sam Martin -- reflects, in new ways and new words, the mood of the country and this rising generation's aspiration to find common ground in a world defined by our differences.")

A Time to Turn to Each Other

So I have posted enough videos and pictures and other people’s words. Time to post some of my own thoughts.

It is the end of Inauguration Day. I did not join in the packed Metro, the huddling crowd, the lines waiting in the frigid cold of a January day in Washington, D.C., for a glimpse of our new president. (Why, again, isn’t Inauguration in June?) But I watched the day’s events on television with my 12-year-old daughter (who wasn’t terribly disappointed not to be standing in the cold, although I was). Nevertheless, there was not much that we missed, thanks to the extensive media coverage.

And while I watched, I (what else does this generation do?) perused the reactions of friends on Facebook. One asked whether, in our lifetime, there had been a more polarizing event. (Apparently, in the coffeehouse where he works, there were rather pointed reactions when the TV was turned on to the inauguration.) Even now, the debates continue (“How could Michelle choose that dress??” and “Oh, she looked lovely in white!”) … but seriously. One person replied to that question that the Bush 2000 inauguration could, arguably, be deemed more polarizing, considering the closeness of that contest with Al Gore. No doubt our nation is still strongly divided politically.

Television commentators observed today how the city (excuse me, I’m being presumptuous to beyond-the-beltway dwellers—“the city” being D.C.) has already changed in tone, socially speaking. It is more upbeat, and people are intermingling outside their usual circles, whereas in the last administration people did not put aside differences after hours—there was always a schism, even at dinner. I hope this is not a short-lived trend.

I have often liked to say that my generation (X) knocked down the walls in the first place. Sure, much can be said about Gen Y’s contributions to a changed culture, but no, we Xers got the ball rolling, small cohort though we are. We are about getting past differences (while many of us still hold on to our convictions) in order to get good work done. I believe that we are the generation of joining together, not tearing apart, and that Obama’s election is the culmination of that pursuit.

In his benediction at the end of the swearing-in ceremony, the Rev. Joseph E. Lowery prayed, “And while we have sown the seeds of greed—the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.”

I loved that sentiment, of turning “to each other and not on each other.”

Yes, there will be partisanship among politicians, as is the nature, but, I believe, there will be more true “reaching across the aisle.” And as I said to a friend, citizens do not need to be beholden to any party. Politics is a part of life, a part of changing culture. Even Obama, in a backstage interview with ABC at the Neighborhood Ball, noted that the government will turn its wheels and do its work, but real change will come in the neighborhoods, the communities, where people reach out to one another and help each other. Right on.

I like to pretend I am such a cynic. I really am pessimistic about so much. Truly I am (grumble, growl). But my idealistic nature always outs me by rearing its precious head. So indulge me a bit here.

My hope is that those who revel in this day will not be vilified. And those who are disappointed will not be the object of schadenfreude. We are all in this experiment together.

We need to remember who Obama is and, more importantly, who he is not. We cannot put ostentatious expectations upon him, believing we will wake up next month to a perfect world. He is simply a man, with a new job. He is the POTUS, not God, not Santa. He even reminded us of this inevitable fact on Sunday at the “We Are One” concert, when he said, “I won’t pretend that meeting … these challenges will be easy. It will take more than a month or a year, and it will likely take many. Along the way there will be setbacks and false starts and days that test our fundamental resolve as a nation.”

So we cannot place unrealistic expectations upon this one man, and in the same way, we cannot later put undue blame upon him. Let no one sneer when the harder times he said will come do come. As I said, he is simply the president—he is not a monarch who has all power in his hands. The work ahead is not his alone. It is all of ours: the executive, judicial, and legislative branches; the states, as well as the federal governments; and communities, neighborhoods, and individuals. (Please cut up your charge cards now.)

We should marvel that anyone would want to be president in this volatile and depressing climate—what with the impossibly difficult work ahead, and the overly high expectations people in need have of a new president. This is not the most auspicious time for any president, let alone a historically significant one. But again, he is one man, who is part of a long process in this American experiment. We really need to remember that. Obama does.

Some critics complain about the atmosphere of today, that it’s too upbeat. They sneer, Wait until four years from now, when Obama makes all his mistakes. To refer back to what he said in that interview during the Neighborhood Ball, the good work to be done is not for him alone, not for government to accomplish, but for citizens within their own communities.

What is notable about Obama’s election, is how, unlike other candidates I can remember, he has instilled hope, even in those who disagree with him. And that hope spurs people to action. And I believe, four years from now we will see change—not brought about by Obama, so much as by individual Americans pulling themselves up and then helping their neighbors.

And so, this Inauguration Day is a day of thanksgiving for a man and his God who reminded us of our collective strength as a people.

As we huddle together in the cold of the difficult days to come, let’s be busy in bringing about “the change” ourselves. Turning to each other, and not on each other, during these next four years will make us stronger.

Let’s get to work.

America's Song

Just Perfect: a brilliant, crazy Irishman at the American inaugural

(H/T @u2)

And so it ends...

The entertainment value of this administration will be missed. (Thanks to Heather D. for the vid link.)

Presidential

Formidable is the word that came to mind.

Just read...

Yes. Simply yes.

I shut my eyes and breathed in the smell of the soft skin of Fred's neck, the soft fleshy part underneath the long curls at the back of his head that I can't bear to cut because they represent the last vestiges of his babyhood. He giggled, because it tickled, but allowed me my moment of wistfulness. He smelled of a sweet blend of clean pajamas, soap, and the unsullied pureness of recently washed toddler, and I felt myself melt. Waves of nostalgia for the baby he will never be again swept over me, and for a moment I thought I might cry. Sometimes it is a question of getting through the days, but then from nowhere come those moments that you want to preserve forever. (From Slummy Mummy by Fiona Neill)

Helping the Poor

What he said.

And what he said too.