1 Our new president

Last Tuesday afternoon, following the inauguration ceremony for our new President, I wrote in my journal: "I am grateful today to be an American.

"On the little TV in my office most of my staff and I watched the historic inauguration of our 44th President. Aside from the miracle of such a peaceful, seamless transition of power from President George W. Bush to President Barack Obama, and aside from the historical significance of the first African American now occupying the White House, I was impressed with the sense of hope and courage and optimism and willingness to tackle the hard issues facing our nation that President Obama verbalized in his inaugural address.

"Claudia and I prayed for our new President and his family and associates in our family prayer this morning. He will need all our prayers on a continuing basis as we seek to work through the problems facing our country."

I also liked Elizabeth Alexander's poem that she recited at the conclusion of the inaugural ceremony:

Praise Song for the Day
A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration

Each day we go about our business,
walking past each other, catching each other's
eyes or not, about to speak or speaking.

All about us is noise. All about us is
noise and bramble, thorn and din, each
one of our ancestors on our tongues.

Someone is stitching up a hem, darning
a hole in a uniform, patching a tire,
repairing the things in need of repair.

Someone is trying to make music somewhere,
with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum,
with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.

A woman and her son wait for the bus.
A farmer considers the changing sky.
A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin.

We encounter each other in words, words
spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed,
words to consider, reconsider.

We cross dirt roads and highways that mark
the will of some one and then others, who said
I need to see what's on the other side.

I know there's something better down the road.
We need to find a place where we are safe.
We walk into that which we cannot yet see.

Say it plain: that many have died for this day.
Sing the names of the dead who brought us here,
who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges,

picked the cotton and the lettuce, built
brick by brick the glittering edifices
they would then keep clean and work inside of.

Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day.
Praise song for every hand-lettered sign,
the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables.

Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself,
others by first do no harm or take no more
than you need. What if the mightiest word is love?

Love beyond marital, filial, national,
love that casts a widening pool of light,
love with no need to pre-empt grievance.

In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air,
any thing can be made, any sentence begun.
On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp,

praise song for walking forward in that light.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, represented the Church at the inauguration on Tuesday, January 20, and at the National Prayer Service the following day.