Monday, January 26, 2009

MLK Jr. and President Obama

I had a great time these last few weeks talking to my kids about Martin Luther King Jr. and the pending presidential election. We had a lot of great conversations. My students wrote their own "I have a dream" speeches and they were incredible, better than I ever expected! As a class, we watched Obama being sworn in (yes, he did fumble over his words...he is human!).
A couple of questions/statements that my students said that made me proud as their teacher:

1. Obama is president because of what MLK Jr. did.
2. How was MLK Jr. able to give his speech when people hated him? That led to a great discussion!

I have to say that I am pretty excited about our new president. I admit that it is scary that so many people seem to idolize him and I am not too keen on the recent bill he signed for international abortions but I am hopeful as an American. He is a great speaker and I am excited to watch what he does as our leader. I am not worried at all. I am convinced that God is ultimately in control and has Obama in this position for a reason. I was pretty upset on election day with some friends who were just in an uproar thinking that Obama was demonic and evil. My sister reminded me of something that has stuck with me all week. Just because Obama doesn't have a "in your face" Christian faith doesn't mean that he is not a Christian. It is not required that he wear an "I love Jesus" pin or say "God Bless" after each speech. It is what is in his heart that matters and I truly believe that he does have a relationship with God, if I am wrong then maybe we should pray that He does find God. As one of my students said last fall after election day, we should pray for the president every day.

It is often frustrating working with conversative Christians, especially when politics come up in lunchroom conversations (which is more often than not because a lot of these teachers are freaking out). I just try to keep my mouth shut most of the time because when I have spoken up, I have been shot down. I do not call myself a democrat or a republican but I am hopeful and feel safe having Obama as our president.

No comments: