Shaul Schwarz / Reportage via Getty Images for TIME
"You know, folks ask me sometimes why I look so calm," Obama told several hundred worshippers from the pulpit of Washington's Vermont Avenue Baptist Church, where slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr once delivered a sermon.
The US leader is famous of his aura of unflappability in the face of crisis, but he acknowledged that there are sometimes roiling emotions beneath the surface.
"I have a confession to make. There are times when I'm not so calm. My wife knows. There are times when progress seems too slow. There are times when the words that are spoken about me hurt. There are times when the barbs sting. There are times when it feels like all these efforts are for naught," he added.
"Change is so painfully slow in coming. And I have to confront my own doubts."
But the president said it's his faith that gives him inner calm and peace, and urged congregants at the church on Sunday to find solace in theirs.
"So let us hold fast to that faith," Obama urged the congregation.
"Together, we shall overcome the challenges of the new age. Together, we shall seize the promise of this moment. Together, we shall make a way through the winter. And we're going to welcome the spring."
CALLIE SHELL / AURORA FOR TIME
Posts
Yep. It's the people. He talked about it in his State of the Union address last night too. Government isn't the answer.
ReplyDeleteI was hearing that in Haiti many victims waited and waited for aid, and finally they began sharing and handing out food. Some sold it, and those around them couldn't afford it. I don't know how you could not give the food you have if someone needed it.
We have to do the work.
"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country". Still holds.
ReplyDelete