Yesterday, Today, And Tomorrow

This morning I awoke to thoughts of time. Time is an amazing continuum. Moment by moment, we see the effects of this. We all get older, but hopefully we all get wiser as well. Unlike anything else we experience, time (and the passing of it) is simply hard to describe. It is very definitive, yet surreal.

This continuum is all the more apparent today - in many ways, a monumental day in the history of the United States. 

Why so?

Let's look at "yesterday" - or eight years of yesterdays that will soon come to an end. Today is no better day to write about the legacy of President George W. Bush as he comes to the end of his second term in office. Front and center, we are left with the "Bush Doctrine". We are told that the country has not seen any terrorist attacks since 9/11 (under Bush's watch) yet how many did we see on U.S. soil before 9/11?

But it would not be appropriate to dive into "legacy" today. No sir ... there are more important issues at hand.

Tomorrow ... is Barck Obama's inauguration as the 44th President of the United States. He brings with him hope - for the future of the country in this continuum of time and space. Millions are expected in Washington to witness this event. Both Bono and Bruce Springsteen performed at the concert at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday. Obama may in fact be the first "President of rock star proportions" that we've seen, but with that comes rock star expectations. If he succeeds, the country will be all the better for it. If he fails, will the populace completely and utterly lose their last vestige of faith in "the system"?

But from a very Zen-like perspective, we should focus on the now - today. And today is Martin Luther King Day. It saddens me to think that King won't see tomorrow (and all it represents) because of the hatred of a not-so-long-ago yesterday. But I for one am thankful that our world has had the opportunity to experience someone like MLK. Today I remember King - his oratory, his inspiration, his words, his emotion, and his message.

Time is a strange creature. It seems oh so ironic for Obama's inauguration to take place the day after Martin Luther King Day. As Shakespeare once said, "the wheel hath come full circle". Today, I find this irony strangely overwhelming.