Like millions of Americans across this great land, I watched the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44^th President of the United States.  It was a stirring event.  The inauguration address of President Obama and the benediction of the Rev. Joseph Lawry both put tears in my eyes.

The President is, as we all know by now, a great orator.  With the power of words, voice, and delivery, he can inspire by simply speaking.  Mostly, it's the words.  I think in his speech the President reminded us that this country is founded upon words. Unique words. Moving words. Words that have set us apart from the world. Words for which people have given their lives because from those words flow the ideas of freedom which are worth fighting for.

In his speech, President Obama rooted us in a shared destiny where those things that make us different from one another bring beauty to the tapestry of American life but do not render the fabric from its purpose.  He reminded us that, as a people, we must be bigger than our ideologies and open to our neighbors. He sent us back to the basics of American values. The day, with all its pomp and parade and party, signified a step into a new era of unity. I do recall so vividly the race riots and violence of the 1960's. What a monumental shift has occurred in these 40 years!  Wow!

There's more to the shift then race, however.  The inauguration of President Obama represents a shift in power to a younger generation.  Although Obama is technically a baby boomer, he's very late in the generation and truly embodies a passing of the torch of leadership to the generation behind the "me" generation.  I pray that the concept of "us" can be re-attained for the good of the country.

The ceremony of January 20 struck me in another way, as well. The place of God and religion within the words of the day were many and more than perfunctory. The invocation by Pastor Rick Warren called upon God in very certain terms.  The President's speech made one reference to scripture and several to God and specifically named various faith communities.

It was the Rev. Joseph Lowery's benediction that really nailed it.  "Bless President Barak, First Lady Michelle.  Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia," Lowery prayed.  He opened his prayer by referencing the great civil rights hymn Lift Every Voice and Sing.  And he ended with a pointed message that calls us to accountability and revealed God's humor at the same time.

All the God talk is an inkling, I think, of a new faithfulness to be found in our country.  Religion in general and Christianity specifically will be the places of value and the sources of hope.  "That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen," concluded Lowery.

Amen, says I.  Amen indeed!

Pastor B.

With the ground frozen and a well established snowpack on top of it, the few birds that don’t migrate south need a little help with keeping themselves fed.  There is this little voice inside me, however, that keeps reminding me that the species of bird that stays around Wisconsin during the winter has evolved eons ago to find food in the harshness, and this happened before any human dared keep her toes residing in the northern plains of January.  Still, I keep telling myself that the chickadees and juncos need my help.  So, every winter the feeder goes up. 

We have a feeder shaped something like a simple shack with glass sides.  We attach it to the railing on our back deck where we can see if from our dining room table.  Often cardinals and purple finches join the feast.  Sometimes a bluejay sneaks in and scares others off.  Watching the birds is at least as amusing as anything you would watch on television.

Then there is the squirrel.  I think we have five or six of the furry rodents scurrying through the neighborhood.  They cavort over the snow and through the trees unaffected by the cold.  They, too, get hungry but with appetites greater than a bird.  I think they overhear the birds telling each other where the birdfeeders are, because it doesn’t take long for them to show up at a freshly filled feeder.

We’ve tried chasing them away.  Hasn’t really worked.  They eventually come back when no one is looking, and they clean out the feeder in no time.  So, we bought a feeder that hangs from the storm gutter, and then squirrels can’t get to it.

We won the battle.  The rodents look for ways to attack the feeder but cannot create a route to the glorious food.  The poor little birds now have as much of the nuts and seeds as they want.  Yes!  We beat the squirrels.

Of course now I feel sorry for the rodent.  I’m off to buy a squirrel feeder.  Bye.

Pastor B.

New years start in many ways. The church year begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. Fiscal years often begin on July 1. The calendar year begins January 1.

In a week the people of the United States will begin a new year of sorts with the inauguration of Barak Obama. President Bush will walk out the door of the White House to applause because that’s what you do when someone has given eight years to lead a county - you applaud.

Then President Obama will walk in the door to a resounding standing ovation. Are those "alleluias" I hear from the chorus? The inauguration will be watched by more people - both in person and on TV than any inauguration in history. The party will last to the wee hours of the morning and then the expectations will begin.

I believe Barak Obama will be a good president. Maybe he will be a great president. I fear, however, that in these tumultuous times we as a people have begun to look upon him as the messiah who will lead us out of Egypt into the promised land. The hopes and dreams we have projected upon him would require a messiah to fulfill.

Watching Mr. Obama speak and work through his transition in these weeks since the election has shown me a man who will try to be a very different kind of leader and also a man who has no aspirations of being a messiah. Obama, it seems to me, does not have to deal with his own messiah complex.

We, however, are sorely tempted to see his humility as a sign of his messiahship. We don’t want a self-centered, self-identified messiah. Our messiah will be humble. Obama on the Democrat donkey has parallels with Jesus on the Palm Sunday donkey.

In some ways the president-elect cannot escape the messianic identity we seem to be attributing to him. The more he tries to distance himself from that title the more we want to crown him king.

The long run of this is that Obama will inherit a very broken, very fractured, very fragile country, and he will not be able to reach out to the storm and say "Be still" and have the seas be calm by January 22. Barak Obama is a disciple of Christ, and he just happens to be in a place where he can do the work of justice, reconciliation, and peace making like no one else in the world. So let us in these next weeks pray for his discipleship and not his messiahship.

Pastor B.

When did the photocopied Christmas newsletter begin to take over for cards? Like most folks, we get a stack of Christmas (holiday?) Greeting cards every year. At one point it was almost all cards with an occasional personalized greeting written in. Over the years the Christmas newsletter has entered the picture.

At first the newsletter was inserted in the card. Then it became just the newsletter in an envelope. Next, some came as just the letter folded, taped, and an address label on a blank side.

Susan and I have gone the way of the newsletter in an envelope. We leave a little open space on the letter so we can write a personal greeting, although I often find myself writing pretty much the same thing on each one.

We’ve also given up trying to get our greetings out before December 25. The pressures of preparing worship services and family gatherings are enough for Advent. We intentionally put off writing the newsletter and mailing it out until days after the Nativity. Our goal is to get it into the homes of distant friends and relatives by January 6, Epiphany.

Our newsletter pretty much began with the age of the computer. I don’t think our first year’s letter had any graphics. Simple line graphics were the first to be added. Now pictures abound. Our first letters were all about the kids. Now they are more about us and grandchildren.

This Christmas’ newsletter was called The Berggren News: Christmas 2008. Creative, isn’t it? Guess what last year’s was called?

Susan and I sat down on New Year’s day to address all the envelopes, stuff, seal and stamp. There’s always a sense of accomplishment when the last one is sealed. We briefly talked about sending Christmas greetings and the newsletter electronically. It was a brief talk. I don’t foresee that jump into technology happening for a few more years.

Pastor B.