Having invited participation, he now accepts the responsibility of leading the nation. He'll be carrying the weight of anticipated delivery and Messiah-like expectation.
A day to remember
Today, Barack Obama officially becomes the United States' 44th president. It's a grand celebration and a historical moment. All presidential inaugurations are special but to witness the swearing in of the first African-American president truly sets this inauguration day apart.
Many people are putting their hopes and dreams on this man's shoulders. They expect him to end the war in Iraq, turn the economy around, create jobs, bring back prosperity and fix all other manner of U.S. ills. But that's a topic for another day. Today we celebrate with the Obama's as Barack takes on the responsibility of leading the nation.
Inviting people to participate
The expected attendance in Washington D.C. promises to reach an all time high. Some expect as many as 4 million people. It's a testimony to how Barack Obama journeyed to the White House. He invited people along. Even his travel to the inauguration testifies to his approach. He followed Lincoln's train route making stops along the way to D.C. He touched people, spoke into their lives and invited them to participate.
His campaign was all about participation. Barack Obama employed Web 2.0 tactics to reach people. According to Juicycactus, Obama's campaign included "active participation in over a dozen social networks including Facebook, Twitter
, LinkedIn
, MySpace
, YouTube
and Flickr
." Obama also used his web page
and had a blog. He created community on the web, recruited volunteers on-line and invited participation - using both on-line and on the street approaches. People could follow and comment on the progress. People could easily get involved.
People accepted the invitation and joined his cause
That's what they did. People jumped in. It felt like a grassroots movement. Everyday people joining together to make a difference. Working together to elect a new president.
On this day many feel that they have to be part of the celebration. They were part of the campaign and they want to be part of the day that he's sworn in. It's their president and they want to be part of his inauguration.
How did it happen?
What creates this sense of commitment, volunteerism, community and participation? Obama inspired people to believe again. He invited them into the process and participate for change.
I hope Semper Vita will be able to inspire a similar passion, commitment, volunteerism, community and participation. Obama proved it can be done...millions of people working together for a cause. We long to inspire people to work together for the greater good. The outcome of this effort will be that together we can accomplish exponentially more than the sum of individual efforts.
We join in the celebration today
Congratulations President Obama. May God bless your presidency.
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