I can't read the guy's mind, of course, but after the initial, natural response of "Yeah, I got it goin' on," I'm thinking this is what President Obama must've really been thinking upon hearing that he'd won the Nobel Peace Prize:
Dang it! It's a great honor and all, but I really don't need this right now. I've got wars in Afghanistan and Iraq -- not to mention nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea. Man, don't they know I've still got health-care reform and the economic downturn to figure out at home? And on top of that, this will just be more fodder for all the haters who want to see me fail no matter what. Couldn't they have put me on the list for 2017?
Well, at least that's what I would've been thinking if I were in his shoes.
I also was shocked to hear the news that Obama had won the Peace Prize. Clearly, he has yet to accomplish anything concrete that would naturally point to his selection. However, I do agree in part with Fareed Zakaria's take over at CNN.com that this is more of an award to America -- a challenge and encouragement to us (and the world) to pursue the high rhetoric of hope and international cooperation that Obama has advocated.
What's more, the award is also a recognition of what happened in the U.S. last November when we elected Obama. It's a salute to America's ability to finally rise up to the ideals of equality, freedom, and strength through diversity that it was founded on. I think if our country is truly serious about living up to those ideals, we will ultimately prove the Nobel committee members to have been correct in their decision, whether we like Obama or not.
Edward Gilbreath is director of editorial for Urban Ministries Inc., editor of UrbanFaith.com, and the author of Reconciliation Blues: A Black Evangelical's Inside View of White Christianity
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