A new day

I am turning 62 on Thursday and I have lived a long while and have seen a lot of history. Lots of changes, lots of great moments, lots of injustice and lots of miracles. I wasn't sure if I would ever see an African-American get elected as President of the United States but tonight that dream has come true. Yes, a dream. I pray for President-elect Obama as he begins this new part of his journey. All this week I have thought a great deal about Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy and all the other idealistic leaders we've had in the past who had a vision of America not as it is, but as it should be. It should be a place where anyone who is qualified could seek the highest office in the land and attain it. Tonight that has really happened. We are a great country and this proves it. I have such a sense of pride right now in our country. I always have; but now it is intensified.

I believe that Senator Obama will represent us all. I think it's time that the lower and middle classes have a hero. I have seen wealth being the only thing that matters in this country for far too long. I am tired of money and possessions mattering more than kindness, integrity and charity. I have no way of knowing how he will govern but I pray it is with fairness, level-headedness and honesty. I see him as a man with a cool head and a kind heart. He has walked with the poor and found a need to help. It seems to me I know someone else who did that. His name is Jesus. No, I don't think Obama is the new messiah. I think he is simply someone who has walked in the footsteps of the disenfranchised and knew he had to make a difference.

I'll pray every day for this new leader. I know he won't be perfect but I will try to remember he is a man; and hope he makes decisions with all this country's citizens in mind.

---Jane