{"id":2167,"date":"2022-11-25T09:27:12","date_gmt":"2022-11-25T14:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2167"},"modified":"2022-11-25T09:27:12","modified_gmt":"2022-11-25T14:27:12","slug":"shake-on-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2022\/11\/25\/shake-on-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Shake On It"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
In 1789, the newly formed U.S. Senate wrestled with a difficult question for almost a month.
\u00a0
How should American citizens address their new president?
\u00a0
The nation was only a few years old, born of an armed revolution against the tyranny of English monarchs. Surely, therefore, we wouldn\u2019t want to perpetuate the lofty titles normally associated with kings and queens.\u00a0 Senator Ralph Izard of South Carolina suggested \u201cHis Excellency.\u201d\u00a0 The political rivals of the portly John Adams quietly suggested he might be identified as \u201cHis Rotundity.\u201d\u00a0 George Washington initially preferred being called \u201cHis High Mightiness.\u201d
\u00a0
Uh, no.<\/em>
\u00a0
A Senate committee formally proposed \u201cHis Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of the Rights of Same.\u201d\u00a0 This is what happens when you assign a project to a committee.
\u00a0
Ultimately both houses of Congress settled on that most ordinary and humble of titles: \u201cMr. President.\u201d\u00a0 This was going to be a different kind of country.
\u00a0
Then there was the matter of how to greet <\/em>the president.\u00a0 When receiving guests at formal events Washington bowed stiffly, expecting a bow in return.\u00a0 Adams, his successor, did the same.\u00a0 But Thomas Jefferson, America\u2019s third president, fundamentally transformed social etiquette.\u00a0 In July 1801 he greeted White House guests by shaking hands<\/em> with them.
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This was something entirely new, from at least two perspectives.
\u00a0
First, Jefferson was offering his hand to people of lower classes, essentially elevating them to the same level as the most important person in the nation.\u00a0 Incredible.<\/em>\u00a0 And he was denying special treatment to ambassadors and emissaries from other countries who had come to expect deferential treatment.\u00a0 Scandalous.<\/em>
\u00a0
For the past 200 years, the handshake has represented the great equalizer.\u00a0 The high and the low come together in the egalitarian squeezing of two hands.
\u00a0
Handshakes have helped bridge the gap between men and women, young and old, communists and capitalists, and every ethnicity and religion imaginable.\u00a0
\u00a0
What are we saying when we choose to shake hands?
\u00a0
A handshake is an expression of welcome<\/strong>:\u00a0 I\u2019m glad to share this space with you.\u00a0 It\u2019s also an expression of trust<\/strong>:\u00a0 Here\u2019s proof that I don\u2019t have a weapon in my hand.\u00a0 I\u2019m not here to hurt you.\u00a0 It is an expression of hope<\/strong>:\u00a0 Just as my hand is open to you, you may soon discover that my heart and my mind can be open as well.\u00a0
\u00a0
No other gesture has so powerfully symbolized the kind of culture we aspire to be:\u00a0a place where the meek can stand on the same level as the mighty, and where people of integrity can demonstrate their true intentions without lawyers and official forms.\u00a0
\u00a0
We\u2019ve shaken on it; therefore you have my word.<\/em>
\u00a0
Fist bumps just don\u2019t deliver the same magic.\u00a0
\u00a0
As we wrap up three years of dealing with a virus that has caused us to keep our distance from others; as we put yet another tumultuous election cycle behind us; and as we look ahead to joining family and friends during the most festive time of the year, may God help us find the grace to extend our hands to each other.
\u00a0
Just as God is always extending his hands to us.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0In 1789, the newly formed U.S. Senate wrestled with a difficult question for almost a month.\u00a0How should American citizens address their new president?\u00a0The nation was only a few years old, born of an armed revolution against the tyranny of English monarchs. Surely, therefore, we wouldn\u2019t want to perpetuate the lofty titles normally… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2168,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[156,538],"class_list":["post-2167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-friendship","tag-openness"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2167"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2169,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2167\/revisions\/2169"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}