Signs of Optimism - Imagine That!

The Statue of Liberty is closer to being fully opened to tourists (since its closure after 9/11), due to Barack Obama's pick for Secretary of Interior, Ken (Mr. Nice Guy) Salazar.

From the Washington Post today:

"In the Senate, Barack Obama, now president-elect, was one of the co-sponsors of the bill to reopen the statue. The Senate sponsor of the bill was Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), now Obama's nominee to be interior secretary, whose department has control over the Park Service and Lady Liberty.

When Salazar was nominated by Obama in mid-December, (New York Democratic Congressman Anthony) Weiner said in a statement, "Finally, we have a Secretary who understands that the only obstacle to opening the crown is a lack of courage and imagination." He added: "Today we are a step closer to providing safe access to the heights of Lady Liberty." read the whole story here

Other promising news came on the economic front, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing above 9,000 for the first time since November 5, the day after Obama's election. The New York Times has the scoop.

Good news cannot shield the bad. We pray for good sense to prevail in the current conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Maybe Secretary of State Clinton will be able to make a difference, and move all parties towards peace in that land of miracles.

Imagine

by John Lennon

Imagine there's no Heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us only sky

Imagine all the people

Living for today

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will live as one

Happy New Year!

I'm back in the Good News business after the Big Thaw in the Pacific Northwest and several days of weather enforced, but welcome, contemplation. I came to the conclusion that despite mounting domestic and international concerns, there is Only Optimism for Obama in the Offing. We can only look up and look ahead, our desire for better times buoyed by hope and anchored with possibility.

So, I begin 2009 with this: The Obama family is on their way to their new home in Washington, DC because school starts on Monday and serious business awaits the President elect. In the meantime, thousands are volunteering to help at the inauguration, because, as reported in the Washington Post today, "There's a hunger out there. People want to get involved. People want to be a part of this thing . . . a part of history."

Today would have been Poet/Philosopher John O'Donohue's 53rd birthday. Here is a New Year's Day Blessing from his book, Benedictus. This is also for my father, Kelsey, who is celebrating his 75th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Dad!

A New Year Blessing

BEANNACHT

by John O'Donohue for his mother, Josie

On the day when

The weight deadens

On your shoulders

And you stumble,

May the clay dance

To balance you.

And when your eyes

Freeze behind

The grey window

And the ghost of loss

Gets into you,

May a flock of colours,

Indigo, red, green

And azure blue,

Come to awaken in you

A meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays

In the currach of thought

And a stain of ocean

Blackens beneath you,

May there come across the waters

A path of yellow moonlight

To bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,

May the clarity of light be yours,

May the fluency of the ocean be yours,

May the protection of the ancestors be yours.

And so may a slow

Wind work these words

Of love around you,

An invisible cloak

To mind your life.

I miss you, John . . . rest peacefully. Your spirit is alive.