Inauguration Day

Sunday night I was driving back fromour church home group on Interstate 66 headed east from Haymarket to Fairfax, VA. The big neon traffic signs reminded all drivers that there would be delays on Tuesday because of the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, Barak Obama. On Tuesday all the bridges from Northern Virginia into the District will be closed and security will be tight. There is an exciting buzz of anticipation for change.

Living near Washington, D.C., there is this ever present aura of self-importance and power. In the end this can be a self-fulfilling delusion or illusion that keeps real change from happening. As individuals we become our own personal saviors. We believe we can make things happen on our own power. We make decisions based on measurable goals and become blind with ambition as we network with other high-powered people convincing them our plan is the best one. In this area of the world, we sometimes look at the government as an entity that bestows salvation. The government will fix the economic crisis, health care and education. With a few consultants and a lot of money, we start to believe the federal government will save us. Technology becomes another savior. A faster computer, a more energy efficient car, robots to clean the house and all will be well with the world.

As Christians we can’t replace God with these false idols. Only God can save us. And it is through individuals that God performs this miracle using flawed sinners like Moses, King David, and in our time, Martin Luther King, Jr. In Acts 4, the Apostles are called uneducated and ordinary. Yet they changed the world!

The theme of Episcopalians for Reconciliation is What Can One Person Do? The reason I serve on the EGR board is that question is powerfully liberating. The follow up question is, “What is God Calling me to do?” It is a question we must ask ourselves this inauguration day.

Are you being called to be the next Moses, the next Martin Luther King, Jr.? Or are you called to be the person who makes sure the elderly neighbors have enough to eat and heat in their homes on a cold wintry day.

This inauguration day is about change and a new future. Use this day to inaugurate change in your own life. Ask God through prayer and reading the scriptures to set a call on your life. So you may find out what you can do to further God’s mission and to change lives for the better.

Craig Cole is the president and CEO of Five Talents International, a member of Diocese of Virginia's Mission Commission and an EGR board member.