dream ranch

I arrived at a couple of thoughts as I tried to define events that left me in awe last week.

What happened?

• The Supreme Court’s latest and perhaps permanent validation of Obamacare, a law broadening access to health services.
• The same court finding that the Constitution allows same-sex couples “equal dignity in the eyes of the law.”
• And President Barack Obama attending the funeral in Charlesto for a black pastor who was shot in a prayer meeting with eight others, apparently by a 21-year-old white man who celebrated apartheid and the Confederate flag.
  

  President sings “Amazing Grace.” Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

What am I taking away from this momentous week?

• There is proof that things can change. And the proof I saw was the survival of a hard-to-achieve congressional act that will stand alongside Social Security and Medicare; recognition under the law that you are no less of a person, with no less significant feelings, if you don’t match the images of Ozzie and Harriett; and, though sadly, we could watch the first black president of the United States, who has reminded us of the prevalence of racism, come to Charleston to object to the hateful assassinations there and sing “Amazing Grace.”
• And by these examples, I think, a new generation of leaders will be inspired. Encouragement comes from seeing that hope is not an idle dream, that we can change our institutions and that peace and progress come to open minds.
  

  Young women interviewed in Charleston by CNN. Click for video.