Jan 26 2009
WHAT TO DO WHEN EVEN THE PRESIDENT IS YOUNGER THAN YOU
WHEN EVEN THE PRESIDENT IS YOUNGER THAN YOU:
I knew immediately there was something different about Barack Obama. I knew it the moment he arrived on my TV screen. I’d never seen a politician like him, but the key that made the difference in him unique, specifically to me, was hard for my legally blind eyes to specify. It might have been that he seemed sincere and honest? That fact alone would make him different than other politicians, but then again, it might have been the way he spoke. His speeches had a tendency to inspire me to listen, and even to a politician! Was it the hope he gave? Could it be the faith that he inspired in me? Who knew? It might have been the color of his skin, but wait! Now I see! It’s his age!He’s forty-something, isn’t he? I’m fifty-three. What a rude awakening. How can that be? Never in my life has the President of the USA been younger than I’ve always been. It simply seems impossible to me that anyone younger than me could run the country. In fact, how could it be that he received a Harvard education, had a career in public service, got a law degree, became an attorney, and then, made a difference in his community, while I sat in front of my TV complaining about the self serving politician’s I’d see? In fact, after all that, he became a senator, ran a campaign race, won the election to become the President of the USA at his age, and in spite of all that, I’d still be considered his elder. Imagine that.
As a matter of fact, how could it be true that he’d beat McCain, who’s so old and had been a military hero? As old as McCain is, wouldn’t that mean he’d have more experience than the young Obama could ever achieve? As a matter of fact, even I have more experience in life than Barack Obama. Even though it’s true that he looks better than Bush, how could it also be true that someone as young as Obama with less experience than politicians twice his age could win in the end? I suppose it just goes to show that wisdom doesn’t come from being old. Then again, now I see what made Obama unique, specifically to me.
You see, you don’t need to be old or achieve decades of experience to lead, and maybe Obama did win in the end just because he refused to do the same old thing in the same old way McCain promised he’d do. Maybe it was simply time to try something new? Still, who knew that in fact, a black man would become the President of the USA at my age? Now, that’s a new and unique concept too.
As old as Obama makes me feel when I see his face on my TV, he reminds me of my youthful days too. I’m reminded of what Martin Luther King taught me in the 60’s when Obama was just a little kid. When we face what makes us afraid, we achieve impossible dreams, no matter what our age may be. That fact just might be why Obama won the campaign in 2008. It could be due to the fact that people like me, and even at my age, were able to see beyond what made us afraid in the first place. That’s why I can still say today at my age that wisdom still does come from experience, but only when you look through a view of hope and faith.
You see, it’s all about the hope and faith Obama inspired in me, that in fact reminded me of what Martin Luther King did when I was a kid. If I hadn’t been as old as I am, how would I remember him? It takes age to remember history, but you see, it was the hope and faith within a politician, of all things, that allowed me to see the fact that it’s time for something new and improved. With the facts of the past in the back of our minds at all times, people like me and even products of the 60’s, chose to vote for Obama in the end, as young and as inexperienced as he is. That fact alone just goes to show and prove what hope and faith can do to improve attitudes, so you see, as young as he may be, his hope and faith made me feel younger than I am, so in the end, hope and faith always wins.
Besides, I’m old enough to know that being the President of the USA today will make him age at a faster rate than me, I know he will look older than I do soon. Then again, this experience will make him wiser than I will ever be, even if I live to be 103. So you see, with hope and faith, God provides the amazing grace it takes for even the legally blind to see how to look through a new view. Still, the best news is that in fact, it will be that same amazing grace that will create a way for some young guy to lead the nation. That’s why I’ll faithfully believe that as young as he may be, Obama will take this nation into a new and improved generation.
