The fierce urgency of now

When Obama launched his presidential campaign 22 months ago in Chicago, Illinois – he borrowed an expression from Martin Luther King when he talked about the ‘fierce urgency of now’. Despite only being a senator for little more than 2 years, Obama didn't wait to be invited to apply for the most influential job in the world.

His sense was that he could not afford to wait - not due of personal ambition - but because of his conviction that the world desperately needs a new breed of leadership which calls out the good latent in the human heart.

Despite his audacious belief that he was the man to do it, that sense of urgency that has propelled Obama – beyond all expectations - to become the 44th President of the United States of America.

Obama’s victory is a game changing moment in history.

Certainly, on the issue of race, we have taken a huge step forward. It exposes the poverty of equality of other nations. The UK's wretched record on involving ethnic minorities at the top table of political power is a case in point. We have only ever had 3 black cabinet ministers (Barsoness Scotland, Baroness Amos and Paul Boatang) in the history of British politics!

Obama's victory is also an opportunity to challenge the fundamental assumptions that so often underpin modern life. Might is right; feed the greed; me first; dog eat dog – these are all expressions of a world view that panders to the dark side of human nature. We have colluded in convincing ourselves that ‘we are only human’.

What Obama’s rapid ascent demonstrates is that people right around the world want their leaders to raise sights, chart a course and help us rediscover our truest sense of self.

The gap between who we are and who we could be is often not large. It takes relatively small steps for us to find the capacity for courage, sacrifice, love, humility, creativity and kindness.

There is an urgency for us individually and corporately to start finding and living by these qualities. The stakes have never been higher. Just when we face some of the most serious threats to life on this planet, Obama has reminded us that today’s reality does not have to be tomorrow’s destiny – it is ours to shape. While cynicism has dominated public life, Obama has galvanised millions with a vision that the best in human history is still in front of us, not behind us.

The poet Ben Okri puts it better than me when he writes 'In a time when people no longer dream great dreams, in which there are fewer great adventures of the spirit, in which we are encouraged to dumb down, to have such a man running for the highest office in America is nothing short of an extraordinary act of the imagination.'

We must take hold of this moment. If we conclude that no one person can change anything, we will be proved right. If, however, we resolve to live by our highest ideals, there is no reason why justice, freedom and equality can’t make serious inroads on the territories of injustice and suffering.

Despair is not an option; indifference must be banished. As Admiral Nelson once said ‘England expects each man to do his duty’. None of us can hide. We all have the power to choose what is right and good. Now is the time to make the change.