Haiku 101009

rainbow's end
fruits and vegetables
in baskets

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Recently, we read the following:

NPR: “Obama Wins Nobel, Vows 'Call To Action' “

“President Obama was ‘surprised and deeply humbled’ to be selected for the Nobel Peace Prize, he said Friday, promising to accept the honor as a ‘call to action’ to meet the challenges ahead in his presidency.

“At a short White House speech, Obama said he did not view the surprise award ‘as a recognition of my own accomplishments’ but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the United States and the world…

“He won the prize ‘for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,’ the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced, saying it had ‘attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.’

" ‘Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future,’ Thorbjoern Jagland, chairman of the Nobel Committee, said. ‘In the past year Obama has been a key person for important initiatives in the U.N. for nuclear disarmament and to set a completely new agenda for the Muslim world and East-West relations…’ "

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And we thought:

… We congratulate President Obama for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. And we applaud the Nobel Committee for this apparently bold decision. Its members must have certainly expected that their decision would be criticized by some as "premature."

On the other hand, perhaps the committee meant this award to be a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts -- a challenge to Obama to pursue more profoundly and concretely the ideals that the award upholds. And, given Obama’s position as U.S. president and his current standing in world politics, perhaps the committee saw an opportunity to make a robust statement of support for Obama -- someone it sees as uniquely placed to lead the world more firmly along the path of peace, and of plenty that comes with peace.

Since the presidential campaign until now, Obama has talked consistently about pursuing more diplomatic and peaceable options in international relations. Now the Nobel Committee appears to be asking for a higher level of commitment -- for Obama to walk the talk. For the sake of all peace-loving peoples and nations, we hope he succeeds. He will, of course, need a lot of help…