The Previous Week

I wish I had been blogging all along. The past week was crazy. But then, if I were blogging it, I probably wouldn't have been enjoying it so much. I'll do my best to catch up.

The inauguration was an adventure. Even a really fun and exciting one, despite the early hour when I woke, the broken furnace, the poorly planned crowd control, and the cold.

I couldn't ever settle on one emotion to feel most of the time. Elation at a truly significant moment in the civil rights movement, in our nation's history, and in race relations. Sadness at the continued talk of war. Thankfulness for the end of an era and the change in perception of America abroad. Hope that there will be real change for the good, that America would stop torturing our brothers around the world, that the poor might be given more opportunities and support. A fair amount of wariness at a giant ceremony that looked an awful lot like state worship and frighteningly like empire. Skepticism at how much our system can be changed from the inside by insiders. Or at how much any of this makes a difference to a single mother in Philly, a kid struggling to get an education in New York, a family in the slums of the Philippines.

And a sense of continued call to action. Thankful that the gospel includes this, and always has something to say to racial prejudice, economic injustice, torture, and war. Even more thankful that the gospel is also larger and smaller. That it means that this certainly isn't the answer. And that regardless of who sits in that oval office, we are called to love our sisters and brothers and enemies with the all encompassing reckless abandon of God.