It’s a new year and I thought a good way to start it here would be to link to the thoughts of Bono on what the next decade could hold in store for us. Whether you think the decade has just ended or we still have a year to go, leave that debate behind for a few moments and have a read of the thoughts of one of this planet’s more soulful minds (I particularly like his thoughts on the upcoming soccer World Cup and the beautiful game’s ability to bring the world together, if only for a short time).

For all the talk and the satisfactory outcomes of the recent London summit, something seemed to be missing to me. As long as the world remains fixated on the idea that we must grow our economies, we will inevitably fall into the same trap, and probably worse than we are in now.

In the mid-1980s, our planet passed a tipping point. It was then that we started going into debt in terms of the available resources that we have to survive. It was then that we started to consume more than we could reproduce. So while we remain addicted to economic growth, we continue the slide into debt. Our way of living is unsustainable. That is why, as I and others have said previously, there must be a massive investment in green infrastructure, and now is the perfect time to do it. Kevn Rudd’s massive investment in broadband is not a bad start but it needs investment that will not just create jobs but that will create a sustainable economy and eco-system that will be the only thing that is of genuine long-term value.

In the meantime, check out this great blog from Simon Moyle called ‘Manna from Kevin’. It has some great ideas for what to do with your $900 stimulus present from Mr. Rudd. Instead of using it to prop up our consumerism, use it to prop up someone who is struggling to get by.

It was only this morning that I had a good look at Rev. Joseph Lowery’s benediction prayer at Barack Obama’s inauguration. What a lovely prayer – a prayer of confession, humility and thanksgiving. It’s just the sort of prayer that we all need to pray, as individuals and as nations. May we all seek God and his kingdom in the spirit of Rev. Lowery’s prayer. Check it out below, or read the transcript here.

[youtube=http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=7pEH37JIgBU]

Like much of the world, I was reflecting on the outpouring of deep emotion and sheer joy at the inauguration of Barack Obama last week. As I took it all in, my thoughts turned to how the disciples would have felt after the resurrection of Jesus. Imagine their joy. It was actually true! After 3 of the longest days spent in utter disillusionment at the death of the Messiah, they suddenly had the awesome realisation that what Jesus had said all along was actually true. Death really had been defeated. Joy inexpressible!

Whilst not putting too much of a spin on it, I reckon Inauguration Day was a tiny glimpse of that. Hope had been realised. The dream had taken a massive step to fulfillment. After all these years (and for so many, after the despair of the Bush years), the sun had finally risen. This was a day when African Americans, and indeed Africans everywhere, stood taller. Finally, they were being recognised as equals.

Of course, the fact that Barack Obama has become a Messiah-like figure is actually quite dangerous. The expectation on the man is simply enormous. Kevin Rudd even called him the hope of our time. What a weight to carry. After all, to paraphrase Brian’s mother (of ‘Life of Brian’ fame), he’s not the Messiah, he’s just the President. He will never be able to fulfil the enormous hope put in him, and for this reason, he will inevitably disappoint. It is only hoped that when he does, we will not become disillusioned for it.

But despite the burden this man carries, this was a day when we caught a tiny glimpse of hope, of what it will really be like when the world is put to rights. Suddenly, for a fleeting moment, we knew what it was to have hope renewed. We saw that, when a person has hope, the attractiveness of living purely for yourself fades hopelessly into the distance. You see that choosing war reflects a loss of hope, you see that giving in to temptation reflects a loss of hope. And you see that when you have hope, it really is something better, that you have finally found what you were looking for all these years. This is how it will be on an immeasurably larger scale when the new heavens and the new earth come together. What one President may be able to do pales into obscurity when compared to the glory that awaits (Rev. 21:4). Hope does not disappoint.