On the health care speech last night …

Three things struck me about President Obama’s speech on health care reform. First, I was struck by the speech’s emphasis on morality. Caring for our poor neighbors – and even more so when they are sick – is indeed a moral concern. Second, I was impressed by the way the speech addressed economic concerns. Like a lot of people, I’m concerned about costs and deficits – and I thought the President wisely pointed out that the rising costs of doing nothing are unacceptably high. The fact that we pay significantly more for health care than other wealthy nations – and are not more healthy, but less – tells me we have a lot to learn from other countries, both in treating disease efficiently and in pre-empting it with healthier living. Finally, I was impressed by the mature and responsible character reflected in both the speech’s content and delivery. Even when he was called a liar by a member of Congress from whom we would expect more adult, civil, and professional behavior, the President modeled the grace and restraint that signal maturity of character. And similarly, the speech rightly emphasized that health care is a matter of national character. It takes maturity to integrate diverse concerns that are both long-term and short-term, personal and corporate, economic and moral. It takes maturity to integrate our traditional values of individual self-reliance and of commitment to our neighbors. Our nation hasn’t displayed a lot of that maturity of character in my lifetime, and now, both in what we do about health care and how we do it, we have a golden opportunity to learn and grow. – Brian McLaren, author/speaker (brianmclaren.net)