MIND MOVES:Barack Obama's courageous speech gives us hope as we move into uncharted waters
A word is dead, when it is said, some say,
But I say, it just begins to live that day
EMILY DICKINSON'S words reflect her deep faith in the human voice to articulate what is true. Words, when spoken out of depths of silence and suffering, offer us the clarity and the courage to step up to whatever edge our life is on and confront a future that is uncertain and frightening.
I was reminded of her words as I listened to the bold courageous speech of another American who invited millions of listeners to step up to a new frontier in human history. Barack Obama's victory speech articulated the solid ground that his society has achieved in spite of, perhaps because of, gross injustice, tragic losses and moral confusion.
He affirmed the dignity of all human beings who can reflect on their mistakes and choose to change. His words also painted new horizons of challenge and possibility that beckon all of us, and they emboldened us to step up to this edge and make things work.
As we listened, I suspect many of us sensed in that moment how crucially interdependent our lives really are. We experienced a solidarity with fellow humans that felt liberating.
For too long, we have been walled off from one another by a cultural ideology that has perpetrated individualism. His words reminded us that we are part of something much greater than ourselves.
It takes courage to speak with confidence about intangible realities. The task of any leader in Barack Obama's shoes is to avoid sentiment and inspire faith in listeners to step into the unknown.
People can't see the road ahead, but they need to feel that they can cope with whatever the journey holds and that a better world awaits them over the hill.
The notion of change awakens our deepest hopes but it can also threaten us. Prophets of his calibre speak words that are hard to live up to. Being as insecure as we are as a species, we generally find it easier to live with the vision of a Martin Luther King or a Robert Kennedy when they are no longer alive. Assassination is an ever present-threat for Barack Obama and God knows that would be a horrible outcome. But there are more subtle ways that a society can take out a visionary who threatens the status quo.
If his words make us uneasy, if they threaten to expose our mediocrity and challenge our addiction to short-term fixes we can always drown them out.
Our cynics are smart enough to pile on words of hard-headed pessimism that can make his words of hope seem hollow.
Watch closely over the next few months as our collective fear of change, articulated through the media, points out how dangerous it would be to seriously consider change. The arguments that will challenge the feasibility of his vision will sound convincing and certainly more robust than his slogan "Yes we can" - regardless of how heartfelt those words were spoken on election night.
Barack Obama spoke to a deep hunger in our culture for meaning. In a world where we are constantly reminded that material gain is the real measure of success, where our young people are bereft of heroes and have to settle for idols, he has reminded us that life is a precious gift and an incredible opportunity that deserves our wholehearted commitment.
What I've written today was not what I set out to write. Psychologists know that humans can sabotage opportunities to change and I thought I could share some insights about this.
But, actually, my words have come out of a place of deep concern for this man, a curious feeling of wanting to protect him and give him whatever chance he needs to pull us out by the ears and wake us up.
Each of us has the power to bring change to the particular corner of the world that we inhabit. If we do, the coming years will show the power of his words to transform what has become a frightening and lonely place for too many people.
• Tony Bates is founder director of Headstrong - the National Centre for Youth Mental Health (www.headstrong.ie)
