Grant Park Reflections

Tuesday night I was in Grant Park, thanks to a guest ticket from Chris. I've never seen so many people in one place in my life. I have never been the most avid or vocal Obama supporter, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness history with hundreds of thousands of my closest friends. The energy was palpable, and the elation of some was simply overflowing. Hopefully I'll have some pics to post soon.

Yet towards the end of the festivities and on the trainride home, I began to feel sick and then sicker, and by the time I went to bed, I was shivering with the chills. The sickness served as a good reminder on this night. I believe that Obama's election is a huge step for a country built largely on the slave trade and slave labor, and I appreciate the excitement surrounding the election of a man whose father came from Kenya and his mother from Kansas. In an increasingly multi-ethnic America, Barack Obama represents a voice that has never been represented at the highest level of American politics. But as I watched the events, with nausea slowly building in my stomach, I was physically reminded that we still have a long way to go.

Most people who know me know that I'm a self-described raging moderate, and that this title suits me on multiple levels. I am friends with some raging liberals, some raging conservatives, and of course more raging moderates like me. At a moment like this, I urge all my friends not to overreact either way to this election. Obama is neither the Christ nor the Antichrist, though his supporters and detractors, respectively, seem to either implicitly or explicitly deem him such.

So whether you're elated, crushed, or "whatevs," I hope that you'll pray for President-Elect Obama.

And continue to do whatever you need to do in and with your community to seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God. Because though the President may be very powerful, he's got nothing on the slaughtered lamb, our crucified and risen king Jesus Christ, the only one truly worthy of our hope.