The Last Word

Okay, so I am officially the LAST blogger to write about Inauguration Day. Maybe it was my plan all along—let everyone else bombard the internet with their reactions and opinions first, and then like a Ninja I slip in quietly. Because now that President Obama is ensconced in the Oval Office with shirtsleeves shockingly visible, as Obama addicts are desperately panting for more Obama, as our hourly fix is reduced to pathetic little snippets of news—he’s signing this, redoing that— just then, I post.

(While that might have been a good strategy, what really happened was a brief visit to the hospital that threw me off for days. Ah, well.)

Even so, I wouldn't have missed the day for anything. On Inauguration Day, I poured myself into a big cushy chair at the home of several other nuns (the famous Ani House) and just let myself enjoy the entire celebration.

Amidst all the activity—the shivering crowds, the cameras snapping and clicking, the security officials on alert and in constant motion , and the hopes and fears rising around the world—was this precious moment of stillness as Obama waited to walk onto the dais and take the Oath.


It is the image I will never forget.

As he delivered his Inaugural Address, I was breathless. It was both his words and what they had inspired. I contemplated the vast amount of merit being generated all over the world right then, as people actually celebrated virtues like love, patience, and compassion.

Simply put, we all stopped to think how we could be kinder to one another. And if that isn’t “Change,” then I don’t know what is.