paradoxum

Why can’t God just leave us? Think about it for a minute. Why can’t he or won’t he just leave us? Does he need us? Is he incomplete without us? What keeps him here? What brought him here? It’s a curious thing to consider.

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I "believe" God created certain souls / people when he created different emotions, qualities or feelings. So, when he created passion, he created David, and when he created wisdom, he created Solomon, and when he created law and order, he created Moses, and when he created faith, he created Abraham, and when he created love, he created John, and when he created hope, he created Isaiah, etc.

Each of us, I think, are descendants of someone who is the first in the line to possess a particular gift, emotion, or quality that is peculiar to them, and to us.

I know my heritage. I am a son of Isaac. When God created laughter, he created Isaac, and so he created me. I wonder who is your father or mother? What is your heritage?

"The Saints are the true interpreters of Holy Scripture. The meaning of a given passage of the Bible becomes most intelligible in those human beings who have been totally transfixed by it and have lived it out. Interpretation of Scripture can never be a purely academic affair, and it cannot be relegated to the purely historical." ~ Pope Benedict XVI

I’ve had almost two weeks to reflect on the election and I’m still amazed at the HOPE Barack Obama was able to inspire. I have drastically underestimated the power of HOPE. My sister is a counselor and I remember her saying once that when you counsel people, one of the first things you have to do is give them HOPE. I’ve done a little bit of counseling myself and when people believed there was HOPE we usually had a degree of success as opposed to when they had no HOPE.

Like him or not, Barack Obama inspired millions to HOPE.

HOPE is a powerful emotion. The Obama phenomenon has taught us that if it has taught us nothing else. With it, people will do incredibly constructive things, but without it, they do incredibly destructive things.

I began to think about Barack and the HOPE he had inspired. I won’t attempt to say what that HOPE was grounded in, but I do know this, people felt it and they were and are moved by it. Interestingly enough, Christians profess to have HOPE, and yet, they rarely seem that attractive to me. In fact, I dare say that Christianity as a whole inspires a lot less apparent HOPE than Barack Obama.

I am sad and a little angry that this is the case, but you know, I am HOPEFUL that it doesn’t have to be the case.

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As I watched last nights historic election I could not hold back the tears. Just watching Americans of every race, creed, and socio-economic status join together in celebration was overwhelming. It was a celebration that transcended Barack Obama. Last night the dream seen by Martin Luther King, Jr. was seen by all of us. It was a beautiful and moving scene. What he saw by faith, we saw by sight.

Last night I was ashamed at how I've treated my fellow Americans. I was ashamed of every hateful word I've spoken towards George W. Bush and every spiteful comment I've directed at those who don't see things my way. Last night I wept that I had failed to live up to the ideals that have made our country great. Last night I wept because I had forgotten what it felt like to be proud that I was an American.

On a deeper level, I wept that I had failed to allow the Gospel of Hope...the Gospel of Jesus Christ...to truly grip my heart. I have hated those who traded in hate. I have been a Pharisee to the Pharisees. I have despised those who despised me and cursed those who cursed me. I have failed to believe the Gospel.

I cried for joy. I cried because Barack Obama has inspired in me what the Gospel of Jesus Christ should have. I was inspired to be more than I have been. I was inspired to look beyond Barack Obama and see Jesus Christ. I was inspired to wake up this morning and love my enemies. I was inspired to repent of my anger and divisive attitude. I was inspired to build and not destroy. I was inspired to construct instead of deconstruct. I was inspired to give my life anew to the ONE who inspires true, audacious hope.

As my boys left for school this morning to go into an environment where Barack Obama will be "demonized" by many, I told them:

"Be Obama today. Be a uniter and not a divider. Let people feel the power of hope and not the scorn of contempt. Be better than those who hate. Do hard things."