Hope and Fear

From Inauguration

Many of the folks at the college spent the morning watching the inauguration. It was inspiring to be among the crowd, even though I had to spend much of my time taking photos for the newspaper and the yearbook.

From Inauguration

Several times during the President's inaugural I felt myself chocking up. I heard myself mumble inside my head "I need to be inspired, I need to be inspired."

I was inspired by what I saw and what I heard. I was particularly moved by the line: "On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord." I was looking for a third "On this day," to complete the series - that's the speech teacher in me. Overall I felt it was a great speech, entirely appropriate for this moment in our history.

Rick Warren, on the other hand was highly inappropriate. He was to give an invocation, not preach a sermon. He was to give an invocation for the whole country, not just the Christian part of it. What was with using the Lord's Prayer? Pastor Warren has to be reminded that this was a national event, not a church event. He prayed the Jews, the Muslims, the Hindus, the Jains, the Ba'hais out of the union.

Later that day I was listening to the critics on NPR. "Good, but not great," was one of the critic's comments. What was the memorable line? It was pedestrian. Blah, blah, blah.

What speech did he hear?

I think it was a great day for the country and the beginning of an important period in our country's history. I'm glad I was alive to see it.