I DARE TO HOPE

The swearing in of Barak Obama as President of the United States heralds a new phase of American idealism. The realization of the fact that all men are created equal with liberty and justice for all. It ushers in a season of realized dreams of equal opportunity between the races in the United States. It is an idealism long envisioned by the American founding fathers, who in their declaration of independence from Great Britain stated: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...". These were heroes of the American antebellum. Yet ironically, while they so passionately protested the King's unjust treatment of the subjects of the colonies, while they appealed to the Supreme Judge for their just cause, they remained oblivious to the infirmities of their own brothers and sisters of the African-American race among them. This was the irony which many along the way realized and sought to correct through a persistent struggle. It is an anormally that is so common and so stubborn such that the best of us with the best intentions are bound to commit. For the enligtened in the pre and post antebellum period, it was an anormally serious enough to warrant correction with nothing less than the shedding of blood through the American civil war and the civil rights movement. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. captured the passionate longing for equality through his "I have a Dream" speech. Today it still rings and echoes with an authenticity that can only be attributed to the Supreme Judge. King's voice was an outstretched hand that reached through the cloud of dispair facilitated by human indifference to pluck the fruit of hope extended by the God of love. It was a passionate yearning that resigned itself to doing only God's Will. Today's proceedings, stand as tribute to the undying faith of these men and women. Today's proceedings stand as testament to the undying power of hope. But perhaps more powerful is the their insistence again and again that hope is inexistent without the foundation of the knowledge of God. What our founding fathers and those who have struggled for our peace have demonstrated is that it is only possible to hope when one glimpses beyond the human theatre of the upsurd and grasps the majestic reality of God. Now we have a new President who embodies the realization of these dreams. But let it also serve as a humble reminder to those who would be arrogant and may seek to abolish God from our public life that in their arrogance, they seek to reverse the very freedoms that God in His mercy has granted us. That in disregarding, for instance, the life of the unborn they are taking sides with oppressive history. Freedom is not trully freedom unless the least of us and the most vulnerable among us are regarded with equal dignity and handled with greatest respect: the recognition of the image of God in us. May I say, though, that today I dare to hope. I dare to hope that as humanity we shall see a better future in America, in Africa, in the Middle-East, and all around the world. I dare to hope that we shall dig deep into our humble selves and, like the founding fathers of the United States, appeal to the Supreme Judge to examine our intentions when it comes to legislative matters. I dare to hope that we shall look beyond the want to self-protect and self-advance at the expense of our brothers and sisters and embrace progress that is guided by virtue. Now this three remain: Faith, hope, love. But the greatest of these is love!