Reflections
By John W. Vander Velden
I have never taken the
time to watch the Presidential Inauguration. For me, it was enough to catch the
TV news clips, the talking points, a glance at the front page newspaper
articles. The change of leadership has, during my lifetime, been rather dull,
pomp and circumstance aside. However this year was different. It was unique for
me and I suspect an unusual event for most of you as well.
For me the divergence
from normal began months ago. That difference was shown most clearly by the
actions of two men...the ones at the very center of the growing turmoil. I
found that I was not surprised, in the least, by the response each of these two
powerful men showed our nation. Yet it was in the contrast that, to me in any
case, which revealed the depth of each of them. One man showed calm confidence.
The other barely controlled rage. One reached out to his base with a continuous
stream of what he wanted them to believe. The other spoke to a nation most
often in a reassuring tone. Their words and actions show the very foundations
of their essence...their souls.
I, like so many others,
felt the pressure rise. Knew that this conflict of two different views placed a
strain on the country...a strain on us all. For each of us carry our own
position...our own hope for the future and a belief in the person that would
carry our nation toward those noble goals. Week by week, even day by day, the
pressure was fed, the heat of rhetoric turned higher and higher, and many of us
added fear of the outcome of what seemed a growing confrontation to our lists
of personal concerns. Hearing words that include “make it wild” spoken to those
already driven by believing their rights were ignored, revealed to me that the
angry likely would take to the streets.
I watched as their rage
was fed daily. I may not have known the exactly where they would focus their
anger, but truly expected the uncontrolled rage I witnessed on Wednesday,
January 6th. No, the Capitol riots were no surprise to me. Even as I
sat for those hours, continually praying that, with God’s help, our democracy
would survive, I was grateful that the members of congress had escaped the
violent mob. I listened to the words spoken by the calm voice of one man as he
spoke the nation. His words came before the response finally arrived from the
angry man. I hope you noticed as well.
Last Wednesday, I took
time to watch one man leave the office...the most powerful position any person
could hold...and I watched another man, a calm man, accept the duties, the
responsibility. I listened to words spoken...promises made. And once again I
was touched by the contrast shown by a truly humble man when compared to his
predecessor.
This essay is not about
my personal stand on either man’s goals. I did not agree with many points in
both their apparent agendas. This essay is about truth and the obvious
revelation of facts that cannot be hidden indefinitely. These words are to
point out that calmness comes from a confidence of what that truth will at last
prove to be. I believe that rage comes from trying to force the truth in
directions of one’s preference. January 20, 2021, showed me that truth...in the
end...prevailed.
Time will tell if my
optimism is well founded. Time will tell if healing is even possible.
How things change remains
to be seen. Do we, as a country, recover from the wounds so deeply inflected? I
will not predict. But there is a change...a calm change...it is a change this
man can appreciate.
God save our country!
(628 Words) 1/22/2021
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