Martin Luther King, Jr Day, 2009. It has been a good day, a busy day. I haven’t gotten much time for reflection or writing, but I’ve been productive nonetheless. I had a medical appointment in the morning, did some chores around the house and set out for National Service Day with my daughter.

On the way to my medical appointment, I listened to National Public Radio as they reflected on some of the great unsung heroes of past. There was a wonderful piece about Georgia Gilmore and The Club for Nowhere as they sold pies and other goods to help fund the Montgomery bus boycott. It was great to hear a little bit of the history of our country that is different than that which I read in school, written by old white men. It was great to hear the stories of simple, unknown people, helping shape a more perfect union.

In the afternoon, I took Fiona to a senior center in town. It is a senior center that Fiona has been to in the past. We walked up to the receptionist and she said that she wanted to visit with some of the people there. The receptionist welcomed us and pointed us to the common area where we should feel free to go talk to whomever we felt like. Fiona did very well. She speaks loudly and clearly, although at times she gets excited and talks too quickly. Some of the older people would then have problems understanding her, and I would slow her down and explain what she was talking about.

While some of this may be seen as service to elderly people that don’t get enough visitors, it could as much be seen as a service to Fiona as she gained more insights into the lives of the people around her, and the importance of lending a hand to them.

After our brief visit, and promises to return soon, we headed home to get together for heading over to Papa and Nanas. I’ve been engaging in some discussions online with people all concerned about the amount of money being spent on the inauguration, and my gathering at my in-laws house helped further shape some of my opinions.

Back in 2004, various people criticized the Bush administration for the amount of money being spent on that inauguration, and now, others are criticizing the Obama administration on what is going into the Obama inauguration.

Yes, it would be nice if more of the money spent on celebrating were to go to helping the poor, but those suggesting that now seem to be the same people that don’t want to see defense spending being redirected to help the poor.

It reminds me of the story from the Gospel of John where Judas criticizes Mary for anointing Jesus’ feet with oil. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for a high price and the money given to the poor?” he asks. It sounds a little bit like sour grapes. Why didn’t five times as many people pour out for President Bush’s second inauguration?

Yet when you dig a little deeper, you find that much of the money being spent is on security. It strikes me odd that these pro-security conservatives are less concerned about security if it isn’t for one of their own.

According to the New York Times, “the federal government and the District of Columbia spent a combined $115.5 million, most of it for security” for the Bush inauguration in 2005. This year’s inauguration is expected to draw five times as many people as Bush’s inauguration in 2005. It seems like the government is doing a good job of keeping the costs under control.

This is where my visit to my father-in-law’s house comes in. You see, he is a retired U.S. Treasury agent. Both he, and his wife frequently pulled Secret Service duty when a President visited Connecticut. It is great to listen to them talking about their experiences protecting our country on the front line, here at home.

Between Washington DC police, Parks police, Secret Service, and many others, it is expected that at least 25,000 people will be protecting our outgoing and incoming Presidents and all that have come to wish them the best. I hope that my friends in Washington find time to say a kind word to these men and women as they pass security checkpoints tomorrow.

With that, we get to my thoughts about the inauguration itself. As I’ve often noted, President-Elect Obama was not my first choice. I do not agree with him on policy issues as closely as I did with some of the other candidates. Yet I was very happy to hear discussions about the National Day of Service on the radio as I drove to my father-in-law’s house, and then later, see reports of the same on the evening news.

I am concerned by those who feel that we most not criticize the incoming President. I believe that if we respect him, then we must be willing to criticize him when we disagree. It is this ability to criticize whomever our current leader is, and to celebrate the peaceful transition of power that has helped make our country great.

Yet inauguration day will not be the day for the criticisms. That will come soon enough. Inauguration day is the day to celebrate a peaceful transition of power and the hope that a new leader brings.

As to the criticisms, well, there is one final thought I like to keep in mind. President Bush, in his farewell news conference made a comment about that moment when President Obama will fully feel the weight of the office on his shoulders. I don’t often agree with the outgoing President, but I think he has said something very important here.

There is an old discussion about whether the man makes the times, or the times make the man. I suspect that there is a bit of both in there. The images of Bush as a cowboy, or Obama fulfilling the dreams of President Lincoln and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. are just images. They may partially be created by the spinmasters. They may partially be created by the men themselves. They may partially be created by the times.

And so, back to channeling Joni Mitchell, “it’s clouds illusions I recall”. However much all the pomp and circumstance being created around President Elect Obama, it is pomp and circumstance that is calling us to serve as part of National Service Day. It is pomp and circumstance that calls us to reach for something better, higher. It is pomp and circumstance that brings us back to a nation of hope, hope for all its people. If this is all just an illusion, I just hope that we can keep up the illusion long enough to change the lives of people around us.