A New Dawn

November 7, 2008

Messages from all corners of the world are flooding in, expressing wonder, joy, and hearty congratulations.

Americans working abroad have carried a heavy burden these past years, as the sins of our country were visited on us personally. There was a time when people disassociated the American government from the American people; they understood that U.S. policy did not necessarily reflect the views of all Americans. They even sympathized with us when we struggled to to explain it. But over eight years the burden of proof shifted. The whiff of disapproval directed at us grew perceptibly. I felt its weight especially in interfaith meetings, where people don't shy away from issues of morality and justice.

So it is heartwarming to feel the tide of good will that is flowing this way. The notes come in through emails, phone messages, text messages, and an outpouring on Facebook.

The content? "America did it right this time", "Our hope is renewed", "We have a new beginning". "I love the images of the whole world rallying around an ideal of something greater than we've been".

Several people have sent me that great old prayer Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. used to quote: "We ain't what we ought to be, and we ain't what we want to be and we ain't what we're going to be. But thank God, we ain't what we was."

My favorite message comes from Bishop Gunnar Stalsett, one of the world's great peacemakers, setting out today for three weeks trying to staunch violence in East Timor and Sri Lanka: "I am so happy with the outcome of the election. God has saved America."

The rejoicing reverberates. And all Americans can bask in it, at home and abroad.

About the Author

Katherine Marshall

Katherine Marshall, a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, leads the center’s work on religion and global development. She is also a professor of the practice of development, conflict, and religion in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, teaching diverse courses on the ethics of development work and mentoring students at many levels. She helped to create and now serves as the executive director of the World Faiths Development Dialogue, an NGO that works to enhance bridges between different sectors and institutions. In September 2022, she was appointed as a member of the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Marshall has five decades of experience on a variety of development issues in Africa, Latin America, East Asia, and the Middle East, particularly those facing the world’s poorest countries. She was a World Bank officer from 1971 to 2006, and she led the World Bank’s faith and ethics initiative between 2000 and 2006. Marshall is a member of the Working Group on Child Rights and Family Values and the Working Group on Displaced Persons and Hospitality to the Stranger, both part of the Culture of Encounter Project.