Yes, We Can!

Obama's really inspiring. He's worked hard, and even planned hard in advance. One reason Obama'll make a great leader - not only in words, but also in deeds - is due to his meticulous style of planning. And not just that, he also is able to stay calm and focused in the heat of a crisis.

Yet, one of the best things is that he has echoed the cries and the courage of the hearts of a people.

Shuyi wrote:

He gave to a tired and discouraged nation, words of hope to lift them up to face the challenges ahead. No, the situation hasn't changed. 2 ongoing wars. The worst financial crisis in a century. But what has changed is the people's heart, hearts that rally together, desiring change and a better life for themselves, their children and the world.

So something I learnt from her post is that we need to encourage one another on. Especially in down times. (Isn't that what encouragement is for? :)) The situation will still be the same, but our hearts, for the better, must change - and be changed.

When times are bad and everyone is down, then let's lead in speaking words of hope and encouragement. For that could be yet the finest hour. :) Like how the apostle Paul stood up and encouraged his shipmates in the midst of the storm. Like how, if our caregroups or our work teams are in a very desperate situation - let's take the initiative to speak words of confidence and hope to encourage others in their darkest hour.

And we do have the confidence to back up our words of confidence, because we have God, who is more sure than finest gold, with us. He specializes in turning our darkest hour into His finest hour.

OBAMA: This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing:

Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

(From "Text of Democrat Barack Obama's speech in Chicago after winning the presidential election", The Straits Times 5 Nov 2008.)