Inauguration Day

Today, the 44th President of the United States will be sworn into office. In 232 and a half years, only 44 people have held this office. That's a pretty prestigious and exclusive fraternity.

The United States of America, for all its faults, can boast of smoothly processing the peaceful transfer of power from one man to the next. The reason for that is the Office of the President doesn't change, only the occupant. The Office is the constant. This isn't about the physical office, the Oval Office in this case. The Office of which I speak is the authority, the power contained within the position itself. It may seem odd to consider an intangible subject with such reverence. In actuality, that is what our Constitution and the founding fathers protect and designed. When the President of the United States walks into a room, everyone in that room will stand to their feet in respect not of the man, but of the Office he represents. He is the embodiment of this country's history and tradition, and the sacrifice of the tens of millions who have laid down their lives for our freedom. His life is no longer his own. His own identity is veiled behind the Office he holds.

I have to admit, I am burned out with Obama this and Obama that. This isn't just because I didn't vote for him. It's because it seems that people have inverted the order of importance. I believe we, as a society, are guilty of elevating the man over the Office. It's as if he is being treated as deity.

This is such a great illustration of the humanistic, relative morality of the postmodern mentality. Christians and Christianity have been villified for many reasons. My intellect has been ridiculed because I believe in, surrender my life to, and serve God. Meanwhile, many in this group of stone-throwers look to a 47 year old man as being a sort of savior of our country. Despite our human proclivity to make mistakes and fail, we are much more comfortable following another one of us than to serve and try and emulate a perfect God. Then, when that person inevitably falls short of our expectations, we nuke them with our criticism and disdain.

I am mindful of the fact that the Office, the position of President of the United States of America is bigger than any one person. No matter how long Barack Obama holds this position, the job will continue outlive him and his 43 predecessors.

I am also mindful that my God, the Creator of the ends of the earth, from everlasting to everlasting, is bigger than me, you, everyone who lives now, and everyone who has ever, or will ever live. I put my faith in Him, not any man or any political office. I will pray for our new President because he and our country will need it, and because my country is bigger than my political affiliation.

I did not vote for Barack Obama. Barack Obama doesn't even know I exist. However, he will be my President nonetheless.

While you may not believe God exists, He loves you and sent His son to die for you. You may not love Him or serve Him, or even believe in Him. But He loves you nonetheless.