I Have a Dream...

But first, here are a few things I've been ruminating on since the inauguration, or is it The Inauguration? Or even, perhaps, The Coronation?

• What was up with the really long trumpets that had fancy banners hanging from them, depicting somebody's coat of arms? Were they loaned by Queen Elizabeth? Have we used those at every inauguration and I've just missed them?
• Am I the only one made uneasy by the fact that the star of The Inauguration drew a crowd very comparable to say, the Pope? And that so many people in the crowd were reacting as if they were seeing the Holy Father (tears streaming down their faces)? That these same people have put the kind of hope in the man Obama that is usually reserved for the Vicar and personal ambassador of Jesus Christ?
• Do the words "Put not your trust in princes" come to anyone else's mind but mine?
• Does anyone honestly think, with expectations and anticipation this high, that President Obama has anyplace to go but down? And it's such a long, long way down.
• Why is it that when George Bush talks tough, he's jeered as a cowboy, but when Barack Obama uses almost identical words, the crowds cheer him as if he were king?
• Why is it that when George Bush invokes the Almighty, and speaks defiantly of our faith, he is demonized, but when Barack Obama uses almost identical words, he is rhapsodized? (I know I'm not imagining this part, because Jon Stewart on The Daily Show has already put them in side-by-side videos on last night's show.)

Please observe carefully that I mention these things not as a criticism of President Obama, who surely had no involvement in the selection of trumpets, and can't be held completely responsible for the fact that he makes people cry. It's the reaction of the world that makes me uneasy.

Which brings me to my dream.

I have a dream. . . that one day, we will have a president who will use his incredible charisma and eloquence, his incredible influence over Hollywood, the rest of America, and the world at large, to persuade us all that we need to re-think our belief that killing people is ever a good solution to a problem, and that this especially includes children and other innocent people, not just convicted murderers and terrorists. I have a dream. . . in which that president will be Barack Obama.

Please pray for President Barack Obama.