Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Innauguration

Of course, today there must be a blog about the innauguration, but I was really stoked after hearing Obama speak.

His ability to inspire and offer hope is why he is in office. My prayer is that he might be able to keep that positive vision for his presidency...that the American people would be moved to an era of "responsibility"...and that both parties would united enough to get real, lasting work done.

America needed a visionary. So far so good.

3 comments:

revcat said...

Hey Mark. I am surprised you don't have more comments on the inauguration, some profound and theological. Just kidding.
If you are interested, check my blog at http://revcat-lespenseesdecatherine.blogspot.com

Todd said...

I let it sit for a few days, but now I'll ask some of the devil's advocate questions...

You say he offers hope, but what hope does he offer? Is Obama who we place our hope in? And he is a visionary indeed, but is simply being a visionary good enough? What is his vision for America and is that particular vision a good one or a bad one.

Personally, I enjoyed the inauguration and I consistently find Obama's speaches to be elloquent and "moving" for lack of a better word. But in listening to what he actually said, he didn't say anything. Nothing of substance anyway. He said things that are universal. We want to have a better country, better schools, better relations with other countries, etc. etc. This is not really a knock on him at all, it's typical of what we always hear in politics. But why then do we pretend he has said something amazing?

I hope the next 4 years are great ones for America, but I know many things I care strongly about like ending Abortion are not in good hands with Obama, so I want to be sure we examine the things he says and not just continue to cheer because its the cool thing to do.

Mark said...

Good comments, Todd.

I don't think Obama is saying to "Hope in him;" rather, I think Obama is using Hope as a that which is out of reach but we strive for...

Why I like Obama over other politicians is because he is so very positive and visionary. Visionaries, as you pointed out, don't need specifics to lead...They point the way, and get out of the way while waving the banner overhead.

In many ways, the President's job is similar to a pastor's. The buck stops here, but most of the details and nuts and bolts are done by others. The job of the leader is, IMHO, to rally the troops.

I voted for Obama because he ran as a Centrist. I hold Centrist political beliefs, and I'm tired of the extreme right and left.

So far Obama's cabinet choices, his VP, and some of his first actions in office tell me that he will in fact be a Centrist president.

In regard to abortion, it's a big issue, but there are several big issues that we're dealing with...and for me it was hard to wade through the ethics of what is more important in this election.

Good conversation! Thanks Todd!