Friday, February 08, 2008

Yes We Can

In a sea of talking points and focus group-tested phraseology, Barack Obama is certainly a breath of fresh air.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation.

Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail toward freedom.

Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness.

Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the ballots; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality.

Yes we can to opportunity and prosperity.

Yes we can heal this nation.

Yes we can repair this world.

Yes we can.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics...they will only grow louder and more dissonant ........... We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggests; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea --

Yes. We. Can.



Now, I can see some of my fellow premillenialists reeling from this one. When they see words like, "Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this world," they recoil in horror.

"No, we can't!" they cry. "We shouldn't even try! It's only going to get worse and worse until Armageddon. We can't postpone that. We should hide in a bunker until the rapture and just let the world fall apart. The sooner the better!"

But if that's the case, then why are you fighting to get your candidate(s) elected? If, deep down, you didn't also believe you could - and should - make a difference, you wouldn't even vote.

Good news: Yes you can!