First of all, if you would like to see pictures from the Inauguration, you can see them here. And now for the videos (which took me FOREVER to upload...you're welcome), remember, they all have sound, so turn up that volume!
The first is the L'Enfant Metro Station, which is right near the Mall, and is situated on the yellow, green, blue and orange lines. Needless to say, the station was packed...even at 4:15 in the morning, in 22 degree weather with a wind chill of 9. It was an exciting time.
Since it was so cold outside, Luke and I went into the Smithsonian Museum for American History. Two Smithsonian Museums opened at 8:00 AM, rather than 10:00 AM to provide warm places for cold Inauguration goers who were camped out on the Mall. Many, many people took advantage of this. As seen in the video below. I had a second that I took while walking through the Museum, but it's pretty long and wouldn't download. You'll just have to look at the pictures on facebook. In this video you only see a few people, but we were on the second floor, sitting in a corner, in an area that was hardly crowded--comparitvely.
Lastly, the historic event of President Barack Obama taking his Oath of Office. It was pretty amazing to witness that with so many people on the National Mall. You can't hear it very well, and the video is a little bit crazy since people kept getting in the view of the screen and I was trying to tape it without looking at it...excuses, excuses...
Many of you probably heard the speech that President Obama gave. If not, I'm sure you've read it, or at least heard about it. I, for one, really liked it. I thought that it was a call to action in a time when action seems hard. I thought it was a call to unity, which often times seems impossible. And I thought that it was a call to dream big, dream together, and work together to accomplish those dreams. It acknowledged the past, and gave a call to move on...together.
I think that a big part of Obama's call to unity was missed out on when former President Bush was consistently "Booed" from the National Mall. I grow increasingly tired of the criticisms and jokes. While I don't agree with many things Bush did, I also agree with some of things he did do...but I also think that the point isn't to dwell in the past of "Bush was a horrible President" but rather to move on to what we can do right as a country. Calling the country to grow up and mature together. To take responsibility of this country on ourselves and be the change. I think he wants to help lead us to change--but he can't make the changes for us.
If you know me at all, you can probably guess that my favorite parts of the speech were when President Obama talked about poverty. In the same line of my comments above, I think that he asked us as citizens of the United States to re-evaluate our lives and take responsibility for our own lives and the lives of those around us.
I really liked quotes like this:
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
And this:
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
I was glad that these things (among other subjects, such as the beauty of diversity in the United States and the aforementioned call to unity) were again brought up as themes in Obama's speech. And I hope that these things will be the theme of his Presidency.
But we have to remember, again, that this is a call to action. There is still poverty, there is still racism, there is still massive injustice in the United States and around the world.
I/Christians also need to remember and realize that Barack Obama does not equal hope. Jesus does.
My sister, Christie, had to write a paper at the end of her JanTerm that was spent in Washington, DC. The paper was on "the two Washingtons". Kind of hearkening back to John Edward's "Two Americas". In Washington, DC there is a very clear cut between the "haves" and "have-nots"--those who work on Capitol Hill and those who sleep there. Those who work in the financial district by day as analysts, consultants and lawyers and those who work there by night as prostitutes, pimps and beggars. Those who live in beautiful row houses in Northwest and those who clean them. Christie's writing of this paper led me to think about how I've seen these two Washingtons since I've lived here.
Luke has the distinct pleasure and pain to be a part of both of these Washingtons. Luke goes to work in McPherson Square, which is a square in the financial district that is lined by office buildings on the outside and filled with homeless people on the inside. This gives him unique opportunities to get to know some of the people who live in McPherson (if you can call it living). Then he comes home to our apartment in Northeast, notorious for the "have-nots" (not quite as notorious as Southeast). He gets to see it all.
Also in the financial district there are a number of brothels. Lined up next to bars and "Gentlemens" Clubs that are frequented by yuppies, there are places where women are being exploited and abused. Two streets down from where Luke works (still in the financial district) is "the track", the name for the streets where johns can purchase women.
Even today coming home from the Inauguration Luke and I experienced the two Washingtonss when we encountered our friend, Joe. He was sweeping the hall of our apartment building (he is the maintenance man/ housekeeper), and he asked us if we had been to the Inauguration. I was almost embarrassed to tell him that we had been there, while he had been working hard all day. Just because Luke's job allows him the freedom to work from home and put in the hours at his leisure.
Luke and I are consistently perplexed by these two Washingtons and wonder what we can do more of or what it would be like if the two Washingtonss met more closely and consistently. If the "haves" dined with the "have-nots" and listened to their stories, their troubles, their joys. If there was a collective pool for everyone to share out of. Both sides are hard workers, or have been at some time--I don't know if I've met a homeless person yet who has been homeless forever. We're all sinners, in need of grace...just different kinds of grace. What if we could meet each other face to face and show each other grace through encounters--and in that way encounter the love of Jesus...
But President Obama is not the answer for the questions Luke and I have. Nor will he bring about the grace that could happen if the two sides consistently meet with each other. No, he will be transformed as well if he chooses to let himself be. One thing that excites me about President Obama is that he sees the two Washingtons. In this article he talks about how he sees his role in helping to bridge the gap. Here is an article about his first attempt. I don't like to find hope in political figures, I don't chant their names out loud, and I don't think they will fix anything. I hope for Jesus moving in the spirits of people to prompt them to be a catalyst to change. And I like it when public figures seem to want things change and are willing to let themselves be changed.
Luke and I were talking about the presence of an invocation and benediction at the Inauguration today. Sometimes I get confused about church and state and where they should and shouldn't intersect, and I almost always come out with fuzzy lines and complicated thoughts. I think, though, that proclaiming the United States as a "Christian Nation" does a huge disservice to Christians and non-Christians, but most of all God. When a "Christian Nation" lets people go hungry...lets homeless people sleep in weather that most people (including me) can't be out in for more than 12 hours...lets people go without healthcare because they can't afford it...then it looks like Christians don't care...it looks like God doesn't care... And I'm pretty sure that's not true...on both ends.
This post has no real conclusion...the fact is that there are two worlds. Those who have, and those who don't. I just think it's time for them to intersect. And I think that if we look at the way that Jesus lived, He does too.
A beautiful illustration of the two intersecting worlds happened last night during an Inaugural Ball called The People's Ball, where a wealthy man in Virginia decided that he wanted to take an event usually reserved for the rich and famous and give it to the ordinary and desolate. He invited people from Washington, DC to as far away as Kansas and California to come celebrate the Inauguration of Barack Obama in a Washington, DC Mariott just two blocks away from the White House. He paid for their hotel rooms, he paid for their way to get here--from homeless people to elderly sick to young with disabilities--as many people as he could afford to bring and to house. He and volunteers collected so many tuxedos and ball gowns that they had to start turning away donations. And the men and women from all over the country came and picked out a dress or a tux. Dressed to the nines they joined wealthy sponsors of the Ball--indiscriminately dressed. One woman commented this morning on NPR that no one could tell the rich from the poor, no one knew who was homeless or who lived in a mansion...women and men transformed into royalty--rich and poor alike. This story gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes, for I think those who were there must have caught a little glimpse of Heaven.
I think that a big part of Obama's call to unity was missed out on when former President Bush was consistently "Booed" from the National Mall. I grow increasingly tired of the criticisms and jokes. While I don't agree with many things Bush did, I also agree with some of things he did do...but I also think that the point isn't to dwell in the past of "Bush was a horrible President" but rather to move on to what we can do right as a country. Calling the country to grow up and mature together. To take responsibility of this country on ourselves and be the change. I think he wants to help lead us to change--but he can't make the changes for us.
If you know me at all, you can probably guess that my favorite parts of the speech were when President Obama talked about poverty. In the same line of my comments above, I think that he asked us as citizens of the United States to re-evaluate our lives and take responsibility for our own lives and the lives of those around us.
I really liked quotes like this:
Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our gross domestic product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.
And this:
To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.
I was glad that these things (among other subjects, such as the beauty of diversity in the United States and the aforementioned call to unity) were again brought up as themes in Obama's speech. And I hope that these things will be the theme of his Presidency.
But we have to remember, again, that this is a call to action. There is still poverty, there is still racism, there is still massive injustice in the United States and around the world.
I/Christians also need to remember and realize that Barack Obama does not equal hope. Jesus does.
My sister, Christie, had to write a paper at the end of her JanTerm that was spent in Washington, DC. The paper was on "the two Washingtons". Kind of hearkening back to John Edward's "Two Americas". In Washington, DC there is a very clear cut between the "haves" and "have-nots"--those who work on Capitol Hill and those who sleep there. Those who work in the financial district by day as analysts, consultants and lawyers and those who work there by night as prostitutes, pimps and beggars. Those who live in beautiful row houses in Northwest and those who clean them. Christie's writing of this paper led me to think about how I've seen these two Washingtons since I've lived here.
Luke has the distinct pleasure and pain to be a part of both of these Washingtons. Luke goes to work in McPherson Square, which is a square in the financial district that is lined by office buildings on the outside and filled with homeless people on the inside. This gives him unique opportunities to get to know some of the people who live in McPherson (if you can call it living). Then he comes home to our apartment in Northeast, notorious for the "have-nots" (not quite as notorious as Southeast). He gets to see it all.
Also in the financial district there are a number of brothels. Lined up next to bars and "Gentlemens" Clubs that are frequented by yuppies, there are places where women are being exploited and abused. Two streets down from where Luke works (still in the financial district) is "the track", the name for the streets where johns can purchase women.
Even today coming home from the Inauguration Luke and I experienced the two Washingtonss when we encountered our friend, Joe. He was sweeping the hall of our apartment building (he is the maintenance man/ housekeeper), and he asked us if we had been to the Inauguration. I was almost embarrassed to tell him that we had been there, while he had been working hard all day. Just because Luke's job allows him the freedom to work from home and put in the hours at his leisure.
Luke and I are consistently perplexed by these two Washingtons and wonder what we can do more of or what it would be like if the two Washingtonss met more closely and consistently. If the "haves" dined with the "have-nots" and listened to their stories, their troubles, their joys. If there was a collective pool for everyone to share out of. Both sides are hard workers, or have been at some time--I don't know if I've met a homeless person yet who has been homeless forever. We're all sinners, in need of grace...just different kinds of grace. What if we could meet each other face to face and show each other grace through encounters--and in that way encounter the love of Jesus...
But President Obama is not the answer for the questions Luke and I have. Nor will he bring about the grace that could happen if the two sides consistently meet with each other. No, he will be transformed as well if he chooses to let himself be. One thing that excites me about President Obama is that he sees the two Washingtons. In this article he talks about how he sees his role in helping to bridge the gap. Here is an article about his first attempt. I don't like to find hope in political figures, I don't chant their names out loud, and I don't think they will fix anything. I hope for Jesus moving in the spirits of people to prompt them to be a catalyst to change. And I like it when public figures seem to want things change and are willing to let themselves be changed.
Luke and I were talking about the presence of an invocation and benediction at the Inauguration today. Sometimes I get confused about church and state and where they should and shouldn't intersect, and I almost always come out with fuzzy lines and complicated thoughts. I think, though, that proclaiming the United States as a "Christian Nation" does a huge disservice to Christians and non-Christians, but most of all God. When a "Christian Nation" lets people go hungry...lets homeless people sleep in weather that most people (including me) can't be out in for more than 12 hours...lets people go without healthcare because they can't afford it...then it looks like Christians don't care...it looks like God doesn't care... And I'm pretty sure that's not true...on both ends.
This post has no real conclusion...the fact is that there are two worlds. Those who have, and those who don't. I just think it's time for them to intersect. And I think that if we look at the way that Jesus lived, He does too.
A beautiful illustration of the two intersecting worlds happened last night during an Inaugural Ball called The People's Ball, where a wealthy man in Virginia decided that he wanted to take an event usually reserved for the rich and famous and give it to the ordinary and desolate. He invited people from Washington, DC to as far away as Kansas and California to come celebrate the Inauguration of Barack Obama in a Washington, DC Mariott just two blocks away from the White House. He paid for their hotel rooms, he paid for their way to get here--from homeless people to elderly sick to young with disabilities--as many people as he could afford to bring and to house. He and volunteers collected so many tuxedos and ball gowns that they had to start turning away donations. And the men and women from all over the country came and picked out a dress or a tux. Dressed to the nines they joined wealthy sponsors of the Ball--indiscriminately dressed. One woman commented this morning on NPR that no one could tell the rich from the poor, no one knew who was homeless or who lived in a mansion...women and men transformed into royalty--rich and poor alike. This story gives me chills and brings tears to my eyes, for I think those who were there must have caught a little glimpse of Heaven.
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