It is difficult in the best of times for me to live in the moment. Certainly, these are not the best of times. But this morning the sun is just a bit warmer, the day just a bit brighter, and we see that it is not the worst of times. The world is neither white nor black.
And I will enjoy this moment.
But I will also regard the future with a wariness I have earned though the disappointment of the 2000 and 2004 elections and the long march across the Bush presidency.
We have put our right foot down on the first brick of the path back to studied governance, but we must consciously place the left and pull behind us those that act in fear, hide in anger, and corrupt through lust and personal gain.
We must recall that Obama is a man, and though he is a proxy for our hopes and desires, he is imperfect. He will, at once, grant us joy and challenge us to provide him guidance toward what we most value. And sometimes he will stray.
Then, we must know that failure is not the absence or collapse of hope, but only the transient detour roundabout that delays the inevitable, provided we continue to step, one foot following the other.
When the wheel cracks and the center will not hold as the future challenges our new collation, I will speak. I hope Obama will listen. I know that you, this community, will continue to act.
There will be hope.