In one of his stump speeches on the long road to the presidency, Barack Obama asked this question of his listeners:  “What is mine to do?”  Given my unique set of skills and beliefs, talents and treasures – is there something that is given to me to do, some task for me to perform before I die that has been given to no other person?  Tuesday’s inauguration will give answer to that question for President Obama – as he assumes the reigns of this country during what is perhaps the most daunting economic crisis of the past 80 years.  What is more fascinating to me, and perhaps more important, though, is the process of figuring out ‘what is mine to do.”  I am sure that history will rewrite the story of Mr. Obama to fit some kind of theme that makes sense in a secular view.  But I wonder, how did he come to understand his role?  Was it bell clear from the beginning or did it slowly emerge. 

Today’s first reading tells the story of a call that took a bit to figure out.  We are told that ‘visions were rare in that time.’  Perhaps not unlike ours, it was a time when an awareness of purpose, identity, and mission were in short supply among God’s people.  It was a time when no one seemed to know the right way forward.  You know the story.  Samuel thought it was Eli calling. Eli said go back to bed.  But you wonder ‘how did Eli make the connection that he was to mentor young Samuel into an awareness of the prophetic role?’  How did he come to know that what was his to do was to put Samuel on the right track, to tell him:  “Say: ‘Speak, your servant is listening.”  And once young Samuel does that, he [Samuel] gradually begins to discover what was his to do – to anoint one who would be king.  And even that takes more discernment.  Once he figures out it is one of Jesse’s kids – which of the many siblings?  (Remember, David was not even present in the original ‘line up’.  “What is mine to do?”is the echo that comes from this story.   

Andrew had no idea what he was getting into that day on the shore.  But what he did know was an invitation, - something about that command to come and see that set his heart on the road, and got him so excited that he went and brought his older brother to join him in that journey.  What was his to do initially was to bring his brother to the Lord.  And then to go with him and walk with him and learn from him.  What was his to do would gradually emerge…   

Monday celebrates the life and death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  A man, too, who learned slowly to ask and figure out ‘what was his to do.’  A man who step by step realized that God had placed his hand upon him and inaugurated him to fight racial injustice and inequality however and whenever he found it.  And one who, like Jesus, teaches us that we must do what is ours to do, no matter the cost, no matter the price. 

This coming Tuesday, Senator Barack Obama will become President Barack Obama.  And like every president before him, he will place his hand upon the bible and swear to ‘do what is his to do’ for the next four (eight?) years. Though it is his official day, if the truth is acknowledged, this coming Tuesday is also our inauguration day as well.  The day when we, under a new leader, make our pledge to discover what is ours to do, to not shrink from that piece, to not be heedful of the costs, but to put ourselves once more at the service of this country in all the ways.  And whether we hear that call in the middle of the night, in the restlessness of our insomnia like Samuel or right smack dab in the middle of the day while at work like Andrew, or at home through the message of a family member like Peter – make no mistake.  It is God who calls us to do what is ours to do.  This day.  And all the days of our lives.