Hope in the New Year

Today I watched the President-elect barrel through part of the country in a train. This whistle-stop tour, with thousands of people looking on, reminded me once again of the state of our union.
For awhile, it has bothered me that we live in a culture nearly deplete of responsibility. Parents sign up five-year olds for Kindergarten expecting teachers to catch them up and be miracle workers. People neglect their bodies with food, drugs, alcohol, and excessive stress and then sue their doc when he doesn't wave a magic wand and heal them. Anxiety and depression are rampant, as well as other mental illnesses. Images constantly bombard us from every direction. Ten percent of the people who need one can not find a job. Soup kitchens are full and supplies are low. The stock market is slowly collapsing, homes are being foreclosed, and schools and communities trim the fat on an everyday basis. That is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
When you add to that a winter that won't quit, some people might just want to throw in the towel ... India anyone? France?
As a wife and mother with three young kids, I am at this moment quite blessed. We are lucky to have a job, a home, a van, and extra comforts. As a citizen though, I am not quite sure how to define my responsibility boundaries. Really, I feel like it is my job to give back as much as I possibly can...tirelessly this year, actually, through charity work and with my time.
I am really looking forward to this week. I have enjoyed watching the country start to come together and have active hope. Barack Obama is not a saint, savior or god. He has limitations and will continue to make mistakes from time to time. But what he seems to uniquely possess is the ability to rally people together to accomplish something big. And then return the favor with praise through reminding us that we did it together. Hope is what I have for us as citizens. Hope that we can meld beautifully and work together to create a far more wonderful world. Because that is just what we need.
Tomorrow I am attending a baby shower for a friend who will have her first child this winter. The little girl that she will bring into this world has so much to look forward to--a great, loving family, a picture perfect nursery, and acres of wonderful earth to grow and explore with. She is lucky to be born into this historic era. She will be a part of the page we turn together--with lots of hope and well wishes on the way.