HOA says "No You Can't" to "Yes We Can" holiday lights

HOA says "No You Can't" to "Yes We Can" lights
YES WE CAN.  Do these words inspire you?

They inspire my neighbors, Sharon and Eric Withrow, who were told by our homeowners association they are not religious words, but merely a political slogan in a very conservative CO neighborhood. They received threatening letters and will have to pay a fine if they do not obey the order to remove their holiday display. The Withrows put these three spiritual and inspirational words on the roof of their home, made with Christmas lights, after Thanksgiving, exactly as our HOA rules dictated for holiday displays. The words are a spiritual call to action in a country that seems to have lost its' way, its' unity, and its' vision that a better day will come. They are a call, after a long Presidential election, to come together as a nation, in the spirit of good will and brotherhood.

Here is the story:

http://www.denverpost.com/head...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/e...

Here are the words in their inspirational context:

"...in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been

anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible

odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't

try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a

simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the

destiny of a nation. Yes we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail

toward freedom through the darkest of nights. Yes we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and

pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness. Yes we can.

It was the call of workers who organized; women who reached for the

ballot; a President who chose the moon as our new frontier; and a King who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the Promised Land.

Yes we can to justice and equality. Yes we can to opportunity and

prosperity. Yes we can heal this nation. Yes we can repair this

world. Yes we can." (from Barack Obama's famous "Yes We Can" Speech)

In my work as an interfaith lay Chaplain, I have studied the sacred texts of many cultures and religions. Unlike President George Bush, Barack Obama never claimed to speak with G-d personally, nor to be anything other than a human being with human flaws. However, like other great leaders in history (Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Buddha, the Dalai Lama, Moses, etc.), his words may be divinely inspired from his reading of the great sacred texts, and in them, we may all find a higher purpose.

I believe Barack Obama's words have inspired a generation of people all over the world to find a higher purpose... to use their own sacred texts to find their way, to unite this country, and to bring peace to this fractured world.

I honor the Withrow family for recognizing these spiritual words where they found them, and to accept a call for a more noble and honorable life. I honor them for sharing their spiritual truth, in their own personal way as a family, and by exercising their first amendment rights to express their own spirituality during the holiday season.

As a sign of my support for, and solidarity with, the Withrow family and with people who have heard the Call for Change, I will find a holiday ornament of my own, paint on it the words, "Yes We Can" and place it in my front yard for all the world to see.

Happy Holidays. G-d, please Bless America. YES WE CAN.