Posterity

Posterity, it is a heady idea on which to dwell.

Today was the 57th public inauguration in the US.  President Barak Obama began his second term (officially yesterday) as the 44th US president.  Today is also marked as Martin Luther King Day.

Today I listened to Reverend King's "I Have a Dream" speech twice.  It never fails to cause my heart to race and to bring tears to my eyes.  It inspires me.  I am proud of the strides we have made, and sorrowed over the work yet to be done.  I am in awe of the man as an orator and a visionary.  His use of language and of his voice give me chills.  If you have not recently watched Reverend King's speech, do so now, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smEqnnklfYs.  I mean now.  Stop reading and go watch.  I am tearing up just thinking of it.

President Obama took his public oath of office on two significant bibles, he Lincoln Bible and a traveling bible belonging to Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.  Reverend King gave his renowned "I Have a Dream" speech fifty years ago on the steps on the Lincoln Memorial, one hundred years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.  It was proclaimed by Congress as "A National Day of Hope and Resolve".

It has taken too long for the US to have a black president, and President Obama's first inauguration four years ago was replete with discussion about that fact complete with references to Reverend King.
How wonderful that President Obama's second term began with all the typical inaugural pomp and circumstance, and yes with a nod to the numbers- 50 years and 150 years, but without the amazement.  President Obama is now merely another US president.  It is an elite group to be sure.  However, his presence in that elite group is as an equal, no better, no worse.  It is his election to that supreme and honored office that matters.  From today on he will be judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character.

Reverend King's dream is not yet satisfied, but the mighty stream of justice is flowing.  May it never stop.