President Obama’s speech one week ago today

Greetings of Peace:

Exactly one week ago today, while I was in working on book and website revisions (while working through my ongoing migraine challenges) I was watching CNN, as usual.

What I watched on Wednesday February 3, 2009 had such an impact upon me that it took me this long to process and post. I had originally intended to post that evening. Here’s the link so you can view/hear for yourself:

http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/39139027.html

I think everyone needs to hear it. It wasn’t necessarily his “best work”, his usual “fiery” oratory, but the depth of his sincerity and “faith in faith” as I’ll put it. When I heard him quote the hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (prayers and peace be upon him) that I mention in almost every “Muslim” gathering, I first got a chill like never before; then, I started to cry………; not because a “politician” gave props to my chosen faith tradition; but because what he chose to relate from the tradition is so timely in the America, the world, we live in today: “None of you is truly a believer unless he wants for his brother what he wants for himself”. (And as a cautionary note, the explanations of this “hadith”, as the President so aptly referred to it, assures us that “brother” extends to all of humanity, male and female alike, NOT just those of the Islamic faith tradition!)

So I called my father, briefly, then Abdul-Kareem in Phila, and we talked briefly and he called me back later; then my “brother” Haneef (friend since kindergarten and fellow “freedom fighter”) and we talked for an hour. The link is from Abdul-Kareem who missed it live but went on-line to find it after I called him and he heard how it affected me. Of course, NO major news outlet gave justice to the context of his comments; only this one local DC news outlet put up a link of the entire speech.

I have worked for and been in the presence of some of the best politicos on the scene. So I’m not one easily impressed by sound bites or gratuitous references to appease certain segments of the audience. President Obamastrikes me, consistently, as the real deal, aside from the relatively brief comments at last weeks National Prayer Breakfast. I agree with him, and I’ve held this view for some time, that FAITH can and will play an incrnoe’seasing role in American society and public life. The challenge for us collectively is how do we reconcile the diversity of various faiths and come to common ground around the challenges and issues that face all of us, regardless of  ones’ creed, ethnicity or race. President Obama offered what I felt to be sincere reflections on his own road to finding faith; for some, this just might be the basis for increased involvement, tolerance and in the case of my faith community, putting faith into practice on a practical level in the 21st Century. (And that’s just my opinion; I could be wrong!)

This was just the extra nudge I needed to revive my up-to-now inactive, inconsistent blog (just been inundated with book projects and writng prep for so many presentations, etc…..; no excuse). I hope to be back in the mix to stay.

I hope you enjoy the President’s brief speech as much as I did. For any of you who know me, you know how certain, select things, moments, sometimes move me; this was and is one of those moments…..Thanks for indulging me.

I want to have this “conversation”. Please weigh in with your thoughts and comments.

Amin

www.aminnathari.com