Monday, January 26, 2009

a new beginning

Along with the cold air this January, we have fresh air coming out of Washington, in what appears to be fresh thinking about society and government by the new administration after eight years of brutality and incompetence.

Much of the world seems to share my enthusiasm for Obama and my hopes that he will do what we know is impossible--a complete overhaul of the way public business is done. As we pray for his success and safety, we must also pray for patience to prepare ourselves for some inevitable disappointments when the idealism, evident at last week's inauguration, gives way to the ugly aspects of political reality.

It so happens that I have been reading about the symbolism of light and how inseparable it is from darkness. Brilliant light casts shadows and, undiluted, is unbearable without some darkness. Human experience is never unalloyed.