"Is he the savior?"

I think I actually shuddered when I heard the reporter ask the question. That was during the second of four interviews (two newspapers, two radio stations) I gave yesterday regarding the inauguration later today of Barack Obama. 

There were a lot of other questions, of course, in those interviews, and I sought to be as impartial as possible in my answers, as befitting my position as consular agent.

"Is he the savior?" This was a question I could not give an impartial answer to. I did something I rarely do in connection with my office as consular officer: I referred to the fact that I am also a Baptist pastor, and I said that according to my views of the Bible and my personal convictions, I could never accept calling any man "savior". We pray for the new President; we desire to see him succeed in dealing with the many challenges facing the US and the world; but there is only One Person I will ever call Savior.

Around noon today, I have an interview scheduled with the television news team. Back on Nov. 5, when it was clear that Obama had won the election of the day before, a TV reporter asked an American tourist visiting Madeira, "Is Obama the one the world is waiting for?"  I shuddered then, too.