The Inauguration and Call to Service
Congratulations, America! Today, we got ourselves a new president!
Come on now, you have to admit, this is damned exciting! It's not every day you get to witness history being made. Today we did just that.
Barack Obama took the oath of office and became our 44th president today. In so doing, he crossed a threshold no African-American has ever crossed in our nation's long history. What a powerful symbol it is to have the first African-American ever to inhabit the White House, built in part by slaves, who quarried the stone, cut the timber and formed and fired the bricks used in its construction. Little did they ever dream they were building a home for a brother, 200 years down the road. No one could make up a story better than this!
Today, we began this new story, borne in the darkest of times, borne from the belly of fear and uncertainty. And that story, with President Obama as its mythic hero, has as its narrative, the theme that America can be renewed and live out the promise set forth by our founding fathers.
Speaking of Heroes
For those who've just joined us, it's important to know the context from which we're talking about in this discussion of The Hero. We're speaking from the mythic, archetypal context of The Hero's Journey. You can find more specific information about this subject in my last two blog postings on the Hero's Journey and the Dark Night of the Soul here and here.
In this archetypal context of the Hero's Journey, the story is never only about the Hero (or Heroine, as the case may be). He or she is a symbol of the collective's reach for wholeness. As such, the Hero is the outward manifestation of the collective impulse towards courageously fulfilling its destiny. Christopher Columbus took a Hero's Journey and discovered the New World. In so doing, he literally altered the way the world was viewed.
So it is within this mythic context that we consider the candidate for Hero, our 44th President of the United States. He has come not to save us, but to be a catalytic agent of change, wherein we all evolve in the direction of wholeness.
From the Oxford English Dictionary: to inaugurate
initiate, begin, start, commence, institute, launch, start off, get going, get underway, set in motion, get off the ground, establish, found, lay the foundations of; bring in, usher in, introduce; informal kick off, admit to office, install, instate, swear in; invest, ordain; crown, enthrone, declare open, unveil; dedicate, consecrate.
Whew! We did all that today. Are you tired yet? I hope not because we've barely begun.
Those who write about the epic journey of #44 may not see it through the lens of the hero archetype, but the heroic aspect of his story is unmistakable.
From New York Times columnist, Frank Rich:
Nearly three months after Election Day, it remains astonishing that the American people have entrusted the job to a young black man who seemed to come out of nowhere looking for that kind of work just as we most needed him.
"In no other country on earth is my story even possible," Obama is fond of saying. That is true, and that is what the country celebrates this week. But it is all the tragic American stories that came before him, some of them still playing out in chilly streets just blocks from the White House, that throw both his remarkable triumph and the huge challenge ahead of him into such heart-stopping relief.
Indeed! You don't have to be an Obama supporter to marvel at the why's and how's of his rapid ascendancy to the highest office in the land. Something is at work here, the likes of which we've not seen before.
The New American Story: Chapter One
The first chapter of this new story has been written and is already history: The Campaign & Subsequent Election, in Which the Hero Successfully Navigates the Treacherous Rapids Necessary to Become Leader of the Free World.
Chapter Two: A Call to Service
It's a humbled America that President Obama inherits, and perhaps that's a great place to begin the next chapter. The old agenda of dominate and control is slowly transforming, even as fighting continues in the world. It will take time for reality on the ground to catch up with the shift in consciousness that is taking place in the world, but it will. Consciousness precedes action.
The new consciousness is about partnership and inclusiveness and will require that we embrace the rest of the world as our partners on this ever-shrinking planet we share. Might does not always make right and small is not necessarily weak. So far in this century, rogue states and terrorist groups have caused as much chaos and violence in the world as nation-states. We've seen where the arrogance road leads. How about a dose of humility for a change? Now there's change we can believe in!
The world will continue to look to us as leaders, for when we're being true to our ideals, our task is to lead. That's who we are. But the times call for a new kind of leadership: Enlightened Leadership, Leader as Servant. Leader, who leads by example, guided by a compassionate vision for humanity.
Leader As Servant
Although the concept of servant leadership dates back thousands of years (Lao Tzu in 600 B.C. and Jesus both taught these principles) Robert Greenleaf, recognized as the modern father of servant leadership, described it in this manner:
"It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead...The difference manifest itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: do those served grow as persons, do they grow while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?"
Serving is more than something one does. It's a way of being that leads to greatness.
Martin Luther King:
If you want to be important -- wonderful. If you want to be recognized -- wonderful. If you want to be great -- wonderful. But, recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness."
President Obama's Call To Service
In the spirit of Martin Luther King, our new president is calling us to public service. "As we honor that legacy, it's not a day just to pause and reflect, it's a day to act," Obama said. "I ask the American people to turn today's efforts into an ongoing commitment to enriching the lives of others in their communities, their cities, and their country."
What's one small step you could take today, right where you are, to make a difference with someone around you? Rosa Parks sat down and in so doing, changed her country. Martin Luther King shared his dream and in so doing, changed his country. Nelson Mandela forgave his captors and in so doing, changed his country. Barack Obama declared "Yes We Can" and inspired a whole new generation of Americans to believe that change is possible and in so doing, they voted to change their country.
If each of us is coming from: "How can I serve?" "How can I make a difference?" rather than What's in it for me?" imagine what kind of world we could create! Is it possible? Who are we to say it's not!
In honor of President Obama, and this historical day for America, I offer this video with an original song written by Nechesa Morgan. It's her way of answering the call to serve. Hers is a song of thanks and celebration, a visual reminder of the soul and the story of our country. It will soon be available on iTunes.
Congratulations, America! And congratulations, Mr. President!
Please share your thoughts and feelings about this historic event in the comment section below this post. How will you answer our new president's call to serve?
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If you would like to contact me personally, I can be reached at judith@theraisinyears.com.
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