Obama's take away message inspiration of hope, challenge for future

Obama's words are ground cover protecting our land.

Lead without quitting, move forward without compromising although tears and dangers are in your midst. Those were the messages I gleaned from U.S. President Barack Obama's final major speech to a weary nation, words citizens can chew on while struggling against forces trying to destroy us from within.

Let me digress...A few moments ago I awoke from what could have turned into a nightmare. In my dream, I was tutoring a child who's father was rich and acknowledged that he preferred a previous teacher. His daughter was spoiled, ambivalent, and mouthy, showing her underpants as she talked to me. She was more focused on staying off task than doing her assignment. She squirmed and talked back in a confrontational tone and was not interested in learning her lesson.

When I threatened to quit which was where this was all leading, she challenged me. When I walked away to talk to my supervisor (a higher power) I was informed that WE couldn't afford to quit because WE were needed for an important task - saving out kids (future)!

When I woke up, I compared this to what President Barack Obama and many leaders in history have faced through the ages.  In his remarks last night, Obama related back to the late Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Prize for Peace acceptance speech of December 10, 1964 - that "unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word." Truth has to have the final word!

Truth be told, many thought an African American (former slave) could never become President of the United States. Many thought CONGRESS would never pass the Affordable Health Act, that gas prices would dip to under $2 a gallon, that homeowners threatened with foreclosure would be able to keep their homes and lower their interest rates. 

No one would have believed that unemployment would be at 5% and people would be working towards a raise in the minimum wage. That automobiles would make a comeback and companies be transformed. That bin Laden would be punished and El Chappo put back behind bars.

That a lawyer could convince politicians and economists to come to terms and save us from financial disaster. That a used car salesman-like businessman/entertainer would be moving in the polls towards the presidency, and a woman just might become commander-in-chief. That water would be undrinkable in Flint, Mich. That racism would be talked about with vigor again and black lives could matter in jails across the country. 

That the largest illegal immigrant population would be coming from India. That we would be on the verge of WW III, fighting a religious ideology. That a savior, worshiped by Christians and Muslims, would be awaited again.

This is the truth we face. There is no compromising what we must do.

Thank you, Obama, for letting your words ring true. Even though you may have had help from a speechwriter, that doesn't change the course we must take into the future.

As we move forward and remember the sacrifices of Obama near the King Holiday, may we take strength from those who suffered for this nation and continue on the course of making the world a better place.