Hope For Our Future

I did not vote for Barack Obama (I didn't vote for McCain either -- some day Green Party, some day), but I feel the weight of this historic day just the same. I think what made it hit home for me was seeing Jesse Jackson with tears streaming down his face. I wish that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. could have been standing there with him. I think of my own dear mother (a white woman) who bravely spoke up for African Americans at her all white high school and who endured her family's rejection to marry my Puerto Rican father. I think of my African American daughter Zemira whose first memories will include an African American president. This is a momentous occassion and a cause for celebration whether you voted for Obama or not. Can't you feel the generations of slaves rejoicing that America has finally gotten to this point? Can't you feel the satisfaction of reaching up into the tree the civil rights movement planted all those years ago and tasting this fruit? I can.
Is racism over? Certainly not, we still have a long way to go, but this election is a step in the right direction. This election was and is about more than just the issues of our day. It was and is about the spiritual state of our nation. It was and is about spiritual reconciliation. This is huge. I hope my white friends (especially my white Christian friends) realize how huge it is. When injustice is tangibly overthrown, when things that have blocked the blessings of God are removed, then justice and God's blessing can flow. This nation sinned terribly -- enslaving, torturing, raping, and killing other people, children of God, because of the color of their skin. Worse than that the American church participated in many of these sins. When revival broke out on Azuza street many Christians spoke out against it, not because of strange things happening, or miracles occurring, but because white and black people were worshiping together. Even today our congregations remain largely segregated. This should not be. The election of Barack Obama as president gives me hope that our nation can change. It gives me hope that our churches can change to become places where God pours out His Spirit on brothers and sisters of every color. It gives me hope for our future.