My letter to Barack Obama on our shared birthday

Mr. President,

On this day when you turn 49 and I turn 46, I wish you many happy returns and want to share understanding and solidarity, because I think you and I have something more in common than just a shared birthday.

We both wrestle with “an unruly flock”; the difference is one of scale. You are responsible for 350 million people, and I for a little over 100 people. We’re both relatively new at shepherding those in our care (18 months for you, 40 months for me). So if I may be presumptuous…

We both are caught in battles with people who are grasping desperately at a past that is more myth than reality. We try to work with people who believe absolutely that they know better than anyone else what must be done and will bulldoze their own grandmothers if they get in the way. We both serve people who are coming off years of hurt and anger, sparked by a lack of trust and an unwillingness to come together. We both are experiencing (on different scales) the agitation and lashing out of a group of people who are mired in pointlessness and hopelessness.

We both serve people who have no vision for the future. They hunger for something to draw them in, something that will inspire them to do more than simply maintain what is, they want purpose and to be a part of something meaningful in and for the world.

In your campaign you spoke of a United States of America that would rise above petty politics, that would not cower in fear of the vague threat of terrorism, that would lead the world not through “shock and awe” and intimidation but a United States that would demonstrate fearlessness and power through humility and compassion.

That compelling vision has been lost in the noise of Washington politics since you took office. My sense is that you have buried your more natural style of leadership, the leadership this country needs. Be courageous, be passionate. Let loose the Barack Obama we saw on the campaign trail, who spoke with such certainty of the hope of our future. Let loose the man who in March of 2008 gave one of the most insightful and inspiring speeches since Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream”. Make “Yes we can!” more than a campaign slogan, because it is a prayer of millions of people.

Again, happy birthday, and I wish you much happiness with your family this year.