Some say they believe God’s will catapulted Obama to White House

“I can’t speak for God, but I believe there was something for Mr. Obama to do, and he was called to do it.”

Christine Farris

Sister of Martin Luther King Jr.

One theologian warns that putting Obama on a pedestal is not fair to the president-elect.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE

EAST POINT, Ga. — The day after Barack Obama was elected president, Larry Younginer knelt in front of the congregants at his suburban Atlanta church and offered a prayer of thanks.

“Lord, we have again come to you in prayer, and you have heard our cries from heaven, and you have sent us again from the state called Illinois, a man called Barack to heal our land,” said Younginer, a 62-year-old retired information systems worker at Coca-Cola in Atlanta. “We pray that you will build a hedge around him that will protect him from those who would do him harm.”

Younginer, like many others, is convinced that Obama was destined to be president. The mere fact that he won the presidency against the odds has caused some Christians, particularly blacks, to see the hand of God in his victory after so many years of struggle.

The civil rights movement, born in the churches, was disrupted with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968, long before his work was completed. Many have found a spiritual cause in Obama. In their view, he is a unifying figure who will further King’s dream by uniting the world and restoring economic security during a time of financial distress.

Not all Christians, however, would agree that Obama is on a mission from God. And some theologians warn that such a notion could lead to great disappointment if Obama does not live up to their expectations.

“You cannot put him on a pedestal and wrap him in cellophane so that people will fall down and worship him. It is not fair to expect someone to swoop down and save you,” said Lawrence Carter Sr., dean of the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel at Morehouse College in Atlanta. “I don’t think Jesus so much came to save us as much as he came to free us so that we could save ourselves.”

King’s sister, Christine Farris, would not say that Obama was sent by God. But she said she believes that, like her brother, Obama has a divine order from God and he has prepared himself to follow in the direction he believes God would ordain.

“I can’t speak for God, but I believe there was something for Mr. Obama to do, and he was called to do it,” said Farris, 81.

“My brother used to say all the time that he just wanted to do God’s will as he understood it. And I believe that Mr. Obama, with his background, has been preparing to do great things and was ready to do it when the time came,” she said.

Carter said many people look for a sign from God when times are turbulent. And, he said, there are many elements to Obama’s win in which Christians can find spiritual significance.

“It is powerful and significant on a spiritual level that there is the emergence of Barack Obama 40 years after the passing of Dr. King,” said Carter. “No one saw him coming, and Christians believe God comes at us from strange angles and places we don’t expect, like Jesus being born in a manger.”

In his prayer during a service of healing at Fellowship Group Baptist Church, Younginer, a parishioner, compared Obama to biblical figures John and Abraham — and to King, who he said, like Jesus, was cut down before his time.

In an interview last week with ABC’s Barbara Walters, Obama said his faith keeps him from worrying about his security.

“I have a deep religious faith and a deep faith in people that carries me through the day,” he said.

Obama’s positive message during the campaign was a signal that he had been anointed by God, Younginer said. And, he added, God put events such as Sen. Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the primaries, the economic crisis and Sen. John McCain’s selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his Republican running mate in place so that Obama could win the presidency.