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January 21, 2009
One book has slammed shut and the next is being jotted down on any scrap of paper they can find. The tide has shifted and a new hope has risen on the horizon for so many people. It’s hard not to get swept up in the wave of enthusiasm for our new President. Living in Chicago, the events of the election and inauguration have swallowed up the media’s attention as they deliver every angle and detail back to us. There is no criticism of Barack whatsoever. No interrogation, just praise…and the weight of so much hope.
Yet, I am very cautious. Wide is the path that leads to destruction, narrow is the path that leads to life. I believe that George Bush swam upstream during his entire presidency, pushing his way through popular opinion, never wavering from what he believed was right. I don’t know if he made the right choices, but I do know that he did what he thought was right regardless of what anyone else thought. And his bumbling explanations were his biggest weakness. Moses had that problem too.
No one knows if God will Bless America. We have no idea what is ahead….really. All we have is the past to learn from. So, I pray for Barack Obama. I pray for his safety. I pray for him to have wisdom. I pray that he will pray.
God, our help in ages past, help us to look to you for our very breath and existence. May we not be so arrogant as to think we can do this on our own. The stars would fall out of the sky if it were not for your power. The earth would swallow us if it were not for your mercy. None of us is worthy of mercy and grace, yet you give it so freely. If life is not held in its sacred place, the nation will fall. If truth is not regarded as absolute, the foundations will crumble and we will have nothing to stand upon. Your words are our foundation and must be honored, trusted, and lived by, if we expect to stand with strength. Dignity is not our right, it is merely the afterglow of a deep faith in what has never and will never change….You. I pray that our President will solemnly plead for the only true wisdom that you can give. May he feel the weight of it every day, and never feel his own power. Amen.