Funk...

I have been in a bit of a funk of late. I couldn't figure it out until this morning...you see Cyrus and I watched this edited version of Schindler's List the other night. It is a movie that I have consciously avoided. You see, Cyrus' Grandparents are Jewish and while it is horrifying enough to imagine Hitler doing those awful things to anyone, imagining him doing it to people you love is horrible. Cyrus' other Grandfather is Iranian. Yesterday I saw (once again) a young woman with dark eyes and beautiful hair like my Hannah on the news. She had acid burns for trying to go to school in Afghanistan.

These two events effected me, not only because, but for the grace of God, those beautiful young women Hitler's men treated like meat and that beautiful Afghan daughter just trying to learn, could have my daughters but also because they demonstrate the horrors mankind is capable of. It bothers me because I live in a country where a man like Mike Huckabee can make snide and dismissive comments about my faith and not be called out for bigotry but instead be given his own show on FoxNews. It scares me because our politics have become a festival of back biting and degrading each other. It is smallness and pettiness that erodes our sensibilities and makes us hate for no other reason than to hate and makes it impossible for us to disagree without disliking. It is the fact that our current political environment could let horrors go unchecked for political gain.

So this morning, I found myself reading my usual news but still in my funk. Then I saw something that made me smile...a BIG smile. I saw something that gave me moment to pause and a bit of (pardon the cliche) hope. I have been impressed with President Obama so far this week. He was not my choice but I have found him smart and articulate. Today I was watching the news about him being sworn in again and listening to the to-do that he didn't use a Bible and that he didn't allow cameras etc. But I saw something that gave me great hope...I saw Joe Biden make a little off-handed joke about his memory not being as good as judge Roberts so he would need to read his remarks. Obama reached out and with a look of tremendous consternation, put his hand on the Vice President's back. Now, I am a believer that everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves and I found Mr. Biden's joke completely unoffensive. But the look on Obama's face said a lot about the man. The look wasn't one of "this going to hurt me politically" but instead a look of, "don't say something that will hurt someone else, there is no reason." It was a look that said this is a man that has respect for his office and respect for people in spite of their differences (he had voted against confirming Judge Roberts but still he didn't want to mock him). It was a look of a man who truly wanted Washington to be different--who knows differences will be real but wants them to be political not personal. And mostly I saw a man who cared about a fellow human being. A man who would be aware enough of what was happening around him that he would NOT let evil go unchecked for partisan gain and popularity.