I was among the millions who watched in awe and with great hope as the 44th president of the United States of America—Barack Obama—was sworn into office last week.

While watching the ceremony—from the arrival of the family and orderly procession of political dignitaries—to the tandem departure of Bush and Obama, I was struck by the formality of the day. It is, of course, not surprising that nothing would be left to chance on this important day, but I think that there is more to the story.

Pomp and circumstance facilitate transitions. Rituals help us navigate the journey from here to there. As Arnold van Gennep (1873-1957) first described in his book The Rites of Passage in 1909, there are three parts to a transition:  (1) Separation, (2) Transition and (3) Incorporation. He viewed these rites of passage as “ceremonial occasions” and “pointed out that such rites were the way in which traditional societies structured life transitions.”

Events marked by beginnings and endings and witnessed by, in the case of last week’s inauguration, by millions. Proceedings designed to whisper goodbye and shout hello. Celebrations of hope—that things will be better.

So, while last week’s celebration will be endlessly dissected and discussed by the media and others, if only for a few more hours it is my hope that we can simply enjoy the promise of something new.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 5:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.