We witnessed today one of the most remarkable events in history, at least in my lifetime. The inauguration of the first African-American president, Barack Obama, goes far beyond race, it makes a much larger statement about all of us: that we are not only able to think beyond the traditional box, but we can also move, reshape and resize that box to include and motivate all of us to move forward with genuine hope and dignity.
This is not a political blog and I will not mention politics often, but today I am so moved by the new breath of hope that has been laid out for us. With the horrible realities around us of international conflicts, a globally depressed economy, and severe financial stress here at home, there is a solid reason for hope. It isn’t just about our new President Obama, it is the message and the real unity that is building around it.
Each of us have the opportunity and the obligation, I believe to be hopeful. That obligation is about first improving our own quality of life, and, just as important, improving the collective quality of life around us. The absence of hope is despair and cynicism, and together they can spread like an out of control virus,
How much hope can any one of us generate and maintain? Given individual circumstances, maybe not a lot. But we’ve been given a jumpstart, and if we choose to grab on to it, internalize it, and pass it on.
