Normally--as has been the case for the past three years--I take time out to bemoan/harangue the world in how little has changed since Martin Luther King Jr.'s death.
Well, I can hardly do so this year (and yes, it is rather interesting coincidence that Obama's inauguration does follow MLK Jr. Day this year), but without a doubt things have changed.
And yet, many things remain the same.
Our President-elect is viewed by many to seemingly have superhuman powers to eradicate discrimination, poverty, and environmental damage just by being elected.
Whether that has more to do with how he was marketed to the American people or the haze of the past 8 years, but the President is not a dictator nor is he (or she) a messiah.
Here's the real scary thought: Change starts at home. It starts by being brave enough to go the extra mile and start that business or charity or just getting in the habit of reusing shopping bags.
For whatever reason, it has become expected in this nation to search for leaders to do the grunt work of what really is in our own power to make happen, and therein lies an often forgotten part of what King was trying to tell us.
All of us can do amazing things to better our world if we believe ourselves capable of doing so.
If we entrust others to do it for us, then we are bound to be dismayed.
That is why now, more than ever, it is important to not merely "believe," but to actually "do."
2 comments:
amen to that!
people see great hope and opportunity in having a President who is smart... really SMART... versus the imbecile he is replacing in office.
Bush sealed himself away from the real world and real people. Bama won't give up his blackberry because he wants to be part of the real world. of such tiny differences are great men made.
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