First thought: “What a bore!”
Second thought (upon hearing Clinton): Damn, he’s good!
(Mind you there were a few more thoughts in between these two. . .)
Despite the whirling passion of his rhetoric, I find it unsettling to be quoted Scripture from a most unlikely source, saying to us all: “Be not afraid!” I find it unsettling not because of the source but because of the message.
Being afraid does not mean living in fear. Fears can be confronted. Fears are defeated best when faced head on.
As much as I would like not to be, I am afraid. Am I afraid of my own death? No. Am I afraid of sacrificing my life to save another? No. But I am afraid. I am afraid every day of riding the subway to work. I am afraid at night when we sleep. I am afraid of walking through Times Square or by the Empire State Building and the dozens of other targets—soft and hard—that I walk by on any given New York day. I am afraid for myself at times but even more afraid for my neighbors, friends, and family. I am afraid for New York just as I am afraid for Nashville. And I am afraid that my government is not. Just as it has not sufficiently been afraid for 15 years.
I will not make any claims on perfection. I am as imperfect as any man or woman who walks this earth. However, I choose to be hopeful and pragmatic. The same man who said “Be not afraid!” also said “Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” We should choose both, without forsaking the other: our innocence should never belie our cunning resolve to remain free and at peace.
In the words of the ancient King, “There is a time for everything. . .” In the view of this confessor, this time is not one for looking back in bitterness nor for looking forward with willing malaise.
There is a time for vigilance and shrewdness. That time is now. Lest confessions, prognostications, and politicking be possible no more.
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