Easter in America (The Speech Obama Did Not Give)
By J. James Estrada (03/19/08)
Barack Obama gave his highly anticipated speech on the controversial comments of his pastor, Jeremiah Wright, today in Philadelphia. He fell short of his goal to distance himself from Wright's hate-filled message and seemed annoyed at the inconvenience of it all. The following are the words he should have spoken in the city of brotherly love.
It's a political year in America. Of course, it's always a political year in America. The partisan-ship that is Washington D.C. is always sailing towards the next port of call (the war, the economy, the environment, the public education system, healthcare, welfare, etc.) on the red vs. blue landscape. When its passengers disembark, it is best to stand back and avoid the grenades of rhetoric tossed among the participants of our government at work.
But in this presidential election year, the sails are especially being pushed with winds of our own creation. For Democrats, it's time for "change." What kind of change? For Republicans, it's time for a "Reagan" sighting. But there is none. And so we drift forward, sideward, and, sometimes, in circles. Who will take hold of the helm and drive us towards the only star – freedom - that has never failed us as a nation?
Freedom's light enables us to see many things in a dark world. We see goodness and we see evil. We see rights and we see wrongs. We see triumph and we see tragedy. We see and we act. That is America. When hope appears dead and buried, we look for her in the morning. When tears fill our eyes and make unclear our heart-held vision, we shake ourselves and move forward to that better promise.
Two thousand years ago, a dusty tomb held the Savior of the world. For those of us who believe in his resurrection, Easter is a day to be celebrated. When he died, a veil was torn that separated the God of Heaven from his children; when the stone was rolled away, there was nothing on this earth to hold us back from his unconditional love. Christians accept this day as the day we became one family through a common bond of humility. We were unable to save ourselves; so a risen Savior led us from captivity to sin.
Sin takes many forms. Hatred. Anger. Unforgiveness. When men and women recognize these traits for what they are – they are set free to worship with the angels! When men and women embrace these traits – they are held enslaved to the flesh and to the past. When a risen Christ is enthroned on the heart of a human being, a new creation takes its first breath; with no condemnation and no obligation to feed a sinful nature.
With this hope comes the kind of change that we should all aspire to capture for ourselves. Change that makes a difference not in the life of a nation, but in the life of a single man; for Christ in the life of a man is all the change the world needs. For those who do not call themselves "Christian," be glad for the power that frees an addict from drugs; be glad for the power that frees a criminal from a life of crime; be glad for the power that takes a liar and makes him not only see the truth, but surrender to the truth.
Christians are not called to judge, but to love. If a man of God brings any other word than this, then he is not a brother in Christ. From these, the Word tells us, remove yourselves. It is time, then, to say, I once was blind, but now I see. From these, I will remove my self. Not only remove, but reprove and denounce.
In these troubled times, I say not God-damn America, but God bless America!
J. James Estrada
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