WASHINGTON: Obama neither savior nor Satan

When he was asked to identify the man pictured in the gift of a “Barack Obama, Words of Hope and Inspiration” 2009 calendar, my 5-year-old grandnephew, looked up from his Christmas coloring book, smiled and said “Jesus.”

We were, of course, taken aback. Christ?

Unfortunately, I’ve heard too many of his detractors liken our historic 44th president to the “Antichrist.” Neither savior nor Satan, President Obama is merely a man.

J. Marie Roundtree, a government employee and a longtime black Republican who voted for Mr. Obama, said, “He’s just a man. He’s not a wizard, not Merlin, not Jesus, but a very smart man, who understands it’s time for change, and people agree with that.”

Granted, judging from the Obamamania — which made the “cup runneth over” for media outlets and D.C. government coffers during the inauguration festivities for America’s first black president — you might have momentarily mistaken the throngs on the Mall for those countless followers a few thousand years ago, seeking a message of healing, hope and renewal from a far more exalted speaker during the Sermon on the Mount.

Most of those Americans from all walks of life, all colors of the rainbow and all corners of country returned from the Mall in Washington on Tuesday and reported a similar collective lesson learned about the power of peace and harmony that made the monumental 44th inaugural experience more historic than the man.

Jeanette Witter, a black psychologist in the District, summed up the overriding theme of good will from the dozens of people I contacted or interviewed: “Again, good spirits and cooperation even in that intense crowd was the rule rather than the exception it has become of late.”

“We had one gentleman who started us singing and doing cheers. We sang patriotic songs and civil rights songs. When the crowd sang ‘We Shall Overcome,’ one young man, white, a college student, standing next to me, asked ‘What is that song? I’ve heard it before, but I don’t know the meaning.’ I explained the significance of it in the civil rights movement and could see him looking around at the range of people, black and white, who were singing it with so much energy,” Ms. Witter said.

Another woman, Lillian Thompson, an educator from Alexandria, was among the thousands who had tickets but were not able to get on the Mall because of an unfortunate mistake, which is being investigated.

“It was so many people out on the streets; just meeting people was the best part. We stopped to have lunch on the way where we encounter dozens of people like us that didn’t get in. So we all yelled and scream[ed] having the best time watching it on a little television in a Chinese restaurant on H Street. I truly enjoyed my day, and I was glad to share the experience with so many that was as excited as I was,” she said.

Mr. Obama seems to understand his human limitations better than most. Can you imagine what must have been going through his mind at that poignant moment as he stood alone waiting to be introduced to take the presidential oath of office? Sometimes you have to be careful what you pray for, perhaps?

Though he did not usher in a pithy King or Kennedy phrase into the American lexicon, Mr. Obama did deliver an age-old mountain message that bears repeating especially today: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” and “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God.”

Not “the” son, but millions of sons and daughters. They need to take that colorblind camaraderie exhibited during Mr. Obama’s 20-minute speech when you could hear a pin drop as people hung on his every word, and love your neighbor as well as your enemy when you get back home and the real work gets rougher.

“For the world has changed, and we must change with it,” Mr. Obama said.

“Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two,” as Christ said when he delivered a new covenant on how to act and treat one another on a different hill.

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