Religion and the Inauguration
“Without that aid of that divine being, whoever attended him, I cannot succeed. With him, I cannot fail.” – Abraham Lincoln, 1861, in his whistlestop departure speech to his friends and supporters
Abraham Lincoln said these words in a sad good-bye to his friends as he left Springfield for Washington in 1861. He believed the first President had God on his side when he took office. So Lincoln wanted the Lord in his corner in the even more difficult days of Civil War America.
Will Barack Obama put God in his White House? He has said he will find a church here, since his own church connections in Chicago proved troublesome. But will he take time for organized religion? Will he bring his children to a house of worship? His plans are for no cadre of ecumenical leaders on the Inauguration platform, as past Inaugurations have had. There will be no Catholic priest or Jewish rabbi. There will be a minister with an invocation and Michelle Obama will hold President Lincoln’s Bible as he takes he oath of office.
This is not a criticism, but an observation. Its symbolism (because everything on this day is produced, has meaning) may lie in a desire for simplicity. If I have a priest and a rabbi, do I have to have more clerics – Muslim, Sikh, Bahai, Tibetan monk? Maybe there are no hurt feelings, no controversy, if only one holy man or woman, is invited.
A place for God in one’s life takes time. I hope Barack Obama makes that time. It will help him, his family and the nation. His girls will attend a Quaker school. They already seem imbued with a sense of service to others. Their parents chose and enable that path for them. That service may keep them grounded as they breathe that rarified air for four or eight years or for life.
I think they need a church, too. The family attended Sunday services at the 19th Street Baptist church yesterday. I bet the girls complained about getting up. I repeat, I bet they complained. Make no mistake, First kids are still kids. I bet their parents sighed, looked longingly at their own underslept bed and went to church. This is how it should be and a great example for us all.
I know a little about this topic. I am a church-goer. My kids do not love it, they complain, but they go – every Sunday. When we go on trips, I take them as well. That is even a bigger challenge, but it always has rewards. We had a fabulous priest who was young and funny and poignant and political here yesterday – an inside the beltway Padre. He is the head of vocations for the Diocese of Washington, DC, and they picked well. In case you think I am overestimating his impact, you have to give a guy credit who has stories about three priests on zip line in Costa Rica and finds a way to combine them with the fact that his church’s founding members were immigrant stone masons who worked alongside slaves to build the Capitol in 1794.
You never know what surprises a church service can have for you. Worshipping in a group has benefits you can’t reproduce by just praying alone. I know Obama prays. He has said he does it often. This man will need all the help he can get to help us all. To quote his Secretary of State, “It takes a village.” So he may as well get the whole village working with him. It will take both heaven and earth to fix the America Obama will inherit on Inauguration Day.
January 19th, 2009 at 11:51 am
This is an awesome blog! It’s great that you got to see Obama at the concert, and that you get to see him at the Inauguration tomorrow. I like your picture with Obama! I wish we were there with you. Have fun!