Inauguration Day

Whether Barack Obama was your candidate in the 2008 Presidential Election or not, this week he will become your president. This Tuesday will be an historic day for our country as this young black senator from Illinois becomes our new commander in chief. Looks like a party waiting to happen to me.

So on Tuesday we will have a hot dog bar at lunch time, decorate the table red, white, and blue, watch the new president take his oath of office, and listen to his speech. After lunch we'll discuss the ceremony, focusing on the speech, and have star shaped sugar cookies for dessert.

Inauguration. What does this word mean anyway? Webster's says, "the act of inducting into an office with suitable ceremonies." The word comes from the Latin in augur. According to Wikipedia, the augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds (whether they are flying in groups/alone, what noises they make as they fly, direction of flight and what kind of birds they are), known as "taking the auspices." The ceremony and function of the augur was central to any major undertaking in Roman society--public or private--including matters of war, commerce, and religion. Basically, the augur studied the habits of the birds and was looking for a sign from the gods to indicate that their plans might succeed.

Now the ceremony we will watch on Tuesday will have nothing to do with birds, but it will mark a change of direction for our country, or at the very least, a fresh start. This much I do know, "I trust in you O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in your hands." ~ Psalm 31:14-15