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orichalcum at 09:42pm on 20/01/2009
orichalcum at 09:42pm on 20/01/2009Barack Obama used just one passage from Scripture in his speech today, and it was an unusual and I think telling choice:
I Corinthians 11 (KJV): "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
The passage continues, although Obama did not, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
I think that the first part really is a rebuke not just to the last 8 but to the last 16 years of Presidents - to leaders who acted childishly and let themselves be controlled by their emotions or their hormones, to those who did not think of the long term. It's a rebuke to all Americans who behaved economically like children, spending on endless credit and believing the cookie jar would never run empty, and who assumed that the planet could take care of itself. Given the second part, it may even be implying that racism itself is childish, and that only now in America's maturity can we see "face to face," not blinded by the dark color of others' skins. Obama is a deep believer in the virtue of openness, and clarity, which is precisely what these verses are about.
Barack Obama is a comparatively young man. But in this speech, as in so many of his speeches, he seems to hold an abiding hope - and even a demand - in our ability to grow up, and to start behaving like responsible adults and citizens. He promises that his own behavior will be that of a mature husband and father, not someone seeking constant affirmation of his virility. And he offers a solution, a guide to living this life of responsibility and maturity - faith, hope, and most especially selfless love/charity (agape). Intriguingly, these are all virtues which rely on others; the key to being an adult for Paul - and for Obama - is not self-reliance or personal survival skills. It is, indeed, knowing what your own limits are, and knowing when to trust in God and in others, and reaching out to others lovingly to help them and to form a community. In this time of crises which Obama is so deeply aware of, it is precisely faith, hope, and love for others that will see us through.
Welcome to adulthood, America, in all its joys and responsibilities.
I Corinthians 11 (KJV): "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
The passage continues, although Obama did not, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love."
I think that the first part really is a rebuke not just to the last 8 but to the last 16 years of Presidents - to leaders who acted childishly and let themselves be controlled by their emotions or their hormones, to those who did not think of the long term. It's a rebuke to all Americans who behaved economically like children, spending on endless credit and believing the cookie jar would never run empty, and who assumed that the planet could take care of itself. Given the second part, it may even be implying that racism itself is childish, and that only now in America's maturity can we see "face to face," not blinded by the dark color of others' skins. Obama is a deep believer in the virtue of openness, and clarity, which is precisely what these verses are about.
Barack Obama is a comparatively young man. But in this speech, as in so many of his speeches, he seems to hold an abiding hope - and even a demand - in our ability to grow up, and to start behaving like responsible adults and citizens. He promises that his own behavior will be that of a mature husband and father, not someone seeking constant affirmation of his virility. And he offers a solution, a guide to living this life of responsibility and maturity - faith, hope, and most especially selfless love/charity (agape). Intriguingly, these are all virtues which rely on others; the key to being an adult for Paul - and for Obama - is not self-reliance or personal survival skills. It is, indeed, knowing what your own limits are, and knowing when to trust in God and in others, and reaching out to others lovingly to help them and to form a community. In this time of crises which Obama is so deeply aware of, it is precisely faith, hope, and love for others that will see us through.
Welcome to adulthood, America, in all its joys and responsibilities.
sick
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Well put, and an old soul is exactly what we need right now.
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