"The peaceful transfer of power is a blessing that not all countries enjoy, and something to celebrate."

That's a quote from an unexpected source, Mike Greenberg of ESPN Radio. I did some checking around to find similar quotes and was surprised by some of what I found.

There are those who don't like President Obama, who are making comments about how all the fuss is unmerited. That's predictable. Every President has had, or will have detractors.

What is more surprising is that I've seen some cynical comments about the fact that we make a big deal over the peaceful transition of power. America has a long history of stability and democracy, they say. Why make such a big deal over something that is so predictable?

I disagree. I do see this as a blessing, but blessings cannot be taken for granted. They must be celebrated; they must be recognized as blessings. If we ever stop doing this, and take them as our due, they cease to be blessings and lose their power to transform our lives.

Something I regularly say in my church is that God doesn't bless us so that we can live prosperous and untroubled lives. God blesses us so that we can use those blessings to bless others in turn. If we have prosperity, we can share that with those who are homeless, starving, or crushed by poverty. If we have freedom, we can use that to speak out against the oppression so many still suffer. If we have a measure of justice in our society, it should fill our hearts with a passion to see all people treated as true equals.

In the peaceful transition of power we see today, in the historic moment that so few thought they would ever see in our lifetimes, in the surge of hope that so many are experiencing, we have an abundance of blessings.

Now it's up to us to decide how we will use them.