Daily Devotion - Tuesday, January 20

Inauguration Day, 2009

We've all heard it plenty of times: today is a most significant day in American history. Yes, we have elected an African-American as president, possibly signifying that we understand that all people are created EQUAL. I am compelled to hope that we will treat and judge this new administration by comparable standards to those we have maintained for the presidency since 1776. I have read enough material, viewed enough on the screen and listened to enough rhetoric to believe that the really big challenge for America in the next four years is within each citizen of our country far more than it is in a big white house on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The question for this day is quite similar to one voiced many decades ago, “What am I going to do to make this land what it has the potential to become?”!! Unfortunately the question for today often seems to be, “What has Mr. Obama done to make my life easier ( I mean better)?”!!

Our forebearers adopted a phrase, “In God We Trust.” We have fragmented that phrase to the point that God is defined only on our interpretation of what we understand the Holy Creator of ALL things to be. This saddens me. Hopefully each of us will understand that liberty's torch is an invitation to every human being to come together and demonstrate responsibility for self and compassion for all who inhabit this great land.

I wish Mr. Obama well. I already know with certainty that the burden on his shoulders is equal to the burden each of us should feel to let freedom ring from every street corner whether it is in a city ghetto or in a small farming community on a mountain side slope. When we catch that vision of equality, I believe we will demonstrate that we really do trust in God and that God will truly bless America.

Ben Keckler
01.20.09