"Inauguration" is from the Latin word: inauguratus. Which is "to practice augury." And, of course, augury is "divination from auspices or omens." So by performing an inauguration, we are divining the future. As a country gathering to shape our own future. Putting our fate in one man. Hoping, perhaps praying, that he'll lead us from this new-found gloom of ours. Back into the light.
These are interesting times to be alive. For the first time in my life, I watched a live inauguration. (I never cared enough to do it in the past.) And today, we all watched Barrack Obama take his 35-word oath of office. Cindy and the kids did it from school. I watched online, via CNN + Facebook. Live footage combined with live commentary from hundreds of thousands of people across the globe. All of us taking part in the most historic inauguration in American history since the very first one was held two hundred and twenty years ago. How many lives were connected for those hours? How many people smiled?
The stock market plunged 4% (the worst ever loss during a swearing-in.) But interesting enough, even though nearly two million people showed up to watch the event live in Washington DC, there were no arrests today. No riots. No fights. Just a collective sigh of relief as one era came to an end and another began.
It took almost half a century, but finally America realized the dream of Martin Luther King, Jr. And we did it without bloodshed and violence.
I hope it is a good omen. For us all.
No comments:
Post a Comment