Every Day INAUGURATION Day

I simply love Inauguration Day.

All my gripes about the preceding months and even years of pre-election propaganda, from the endless debates on TV to the political arguments at the proverbial workplace water cooler, to the phone calls, mailbox ads and road signs, even the feuds on Facebook that promote one candidate over another are forgiven and forgotten, not on Election Day itself, but on the day the president is sworn into office. No matter whether I voted for the incoming Chief or not, I love every bit of the pomp and circumstance surrounding his swearing in.

A people-watcher of long standing, I am grateful for the television coverage and eagerly eat up the details of dress and style as the First Family emerges from their home and heads off to the morning prayer service at the church. A tea at the White House this year was simply a lovely touch. Then it was off to Capitol Hill to prepare for the Inauguration itself.

The excitement builds as the camera pans the thousands of people standing shoulder to shoulder in the National Mall, simply to be a part of the event despite the cold of the mid-winter day. Television commentators point out past presidents and dignitaries of one type or another seated behind the podium, and in the closing minutes of the morning, the leaders of Congress, the First Lady and vice-President and his wife are announced and seated, leading up to entrance of the President himself.

My work schedule this year caused me to miss the details of the ceremony itself, nor was I able to listen in on the details of the lunch that followed or participate visually in the afternoon parade. But I was home again in time to catch the coverage of the First Couple’s entrance at the nighttime balls, the long-awaited glimpse of the First Lady’s dress, and the designer’s delight at his new-found fame.

Perhaps the list of events on Inauguration Day is us a guide on how we should schedule our own - to start our days in God’s Presence, and remember that each morning we are granted authority over our individual kingdoms and invested with power. The remaining hours should simply be a celebration of who we are in Him. When you live like that you can’t help but dance at the end of the day.

“For if because of one man’s trespass (lapse, offense) death reigned through that one, much more surely will those who receive [God’s] overflowing grace (unmerited favor) and the free gift of righteousness [putting them into right standing with Himself] reign as kings in life through the one Man Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).”
(Romans 5:17 AMP, emphasis mine)