Monday; January8
In preparation for yesterday’s sermon I reviewed John Kennedy’s Inaugural Address from 1961. As I listened to the new leader two things stood out to me. The first one was how the scope of his message was timeless – it could have been delivered today. The second was that it was full of hope. The world in which Kennedy had been called to lead was filled with communist aggression, unequal civil rights, poverty and international political chaos, yet he did not back away from the challenge. There are so many quotable moments in that speech, but one that is often overlooked states, “ In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility – I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it