Hopefully Hopeful
No matter who you voted for, it's a major milestone: in one generation, we've risen from separate drinking fountains to an African American president.
The candidate for whom I voted did not win the election. I am glad I have a religious way to view this all, because it relieves the fears I have. Truthfully, I do not think my politics matter. I am not an expert in anything. I just try my hardest to make the best choice I can and love plenty of people who completely disagree with me. But putting aside my unromantic views of Barack Obama, the milestone that has been reached should not be overlooked in the midst of all of the political messiness: it is astounding that in one generation we can go from separate drinking fountains to an African American president. Thank God. Thank You God. We have moved in the right direction in that area as a people. We have moved closer together.
I heard an amazing interview with a man named Donald Sharp. He is an African American veteran who served in the armed forces when they were still segregated. He was drafted in 1960, and on the way to the Army base was not even deemed worthy of being served food in a restaurant simply because he was black. He said, “Believe me, believe me, believe me, I wanted to go AWOL. I felt like, was it really worth it all? Was this country really worth dying for? I felt as though, that I was just a commodity to be used by this country. And my worth to this country has not increased no more than my great grandfather who was a slave down in Mississippi.”
And yet Donald Sharp did serve. All I can do us shake my head. He served, he survived, he is not filled with hate. He is cautiously optimistic about what the election means for African Americans because of the brutal racism he has seen. But he said his grandkids are ecstatic.
There is something about the stories I am hearing African American people tell since Obama’s election that are getting to me in a way such stories have not before. I was raised by loving people who love all people, so it is not that I am insensitive to racial inequality or injustice of that nature. I think it is that a person who has seen something come to fruition that they never thought possible regains a humility, a sense of awe, that to me is spiritual in nature. That sense of awe and that sense of humility somehow makes me feel closer to them. I am seeing a light in people’s eyes. People seem wowed. How often in our lifetimes will we see so many people feel this awe? I am so grateful.
Hashem, anything is possible in this world! In the midst of all that is frightening and terrible great things can happen. People can learn to see the soul beneath the skin. Sometimes it doesn’t take as long as we feared it would. That is so wonderful that to miss basking in the glow of that truth, of this occurrence, seems wrong.
That moment of awe that many people experienced when their man was elected when they never thought it possible, imagine feeling like that once a day, once per hour. Imagine how empowered we would feel. Maybe that sense of awe is an emotion we should be chasing around more than we do. We let the pain of life, the worry, the confusion of the human condition make us think that life is just more of the same old negative story told over and over with slightly different twists.
I think it is a disaster that we let this happen. We let it. We give it, the doom and gloom, permission to take over. The potential for this day, only God knows. But we know He is compassionate. We know He loves us in a way that is so grand it is beyond comprehension. We know that we have free will that is granted by God and that can only be taken away by God. Yet we fail to let these truths light the path so often.
The pain, the mistrust, the fear that we create in each other with our mistreatment of our fellow man – it’s a pain that throbs on and on. It is a pain that is so loud it dulls our senses. It lives on for years, and spreads to our loved ones, our friends, our communities, our nations. For some peoples, it may take hundreds of years to stop echoing and distracting. As a woman who is proud to be a feminist I can certainly attest to that. There is a part of one’s mind that is always at least a little bit on guard. It is hard to not see that as healthy. I am only human.
Today, I am going to let the awe propel me forward. Thank You God for once again showing us that we can not know what you have in store for us and thank You for showing us that some of Your surprises can be good ones. Let us pray that our leaders, whoever they are, can also feel this awe and the humility that should follow.
8/08/2011
what’s the pont of this article? i don't get it. we are supposed to think, feel, respond how? somehow if black americans love that obama got elected that makes it okay? their "feelings" are more important than the survival of israel, of america? the man is a jew hating, israel hating, communist, muslim-in-secret. he is bad news all the way around. and we are supposed to just take it? like it? feel good for happy black people? are you kidding me? what is the point of this article????