What a difference a day makes. And yet, the full impact of the election of Barack Obama as President hasn't yet fully sunk in yet. Excitement, tears, unbridled joy, amazement, newfound enthusiasm, and yes, hope. It's really much too soon to digest it all. And it's just the beginning. We celebrate now and look ahead to the tasks at end, perhaps with more inspiration and determination to solve our problems. There is still much to do and there is still great division in our country after years of being split apart by opportunistic and unscrupulously ambitious politicians. Digging out from the muck and slime of eight years of George Bush's presidency will take many hands to accomplish but for the first time in decades making the world a better place for ALL doesn't seem so daunting.

 We've listened and watched the reactions of everyone during the past 24 hours and so many people have articulated what we are feeling much better than we ever could. But in these early morning hours what has struck us is something that give us even more hope---the international reaction. Eight years ago, when America was attacked we were brought together in grief and we were deeply moved by the reactions of the international community. All over the world countries and citizens wept for us, offered their consolation, and offered their hands to help lift us up. We never got that back, that rare feeling of a world almost united even if it wasn't at a time of joy.

  Looking back it may have been naive to think that this could last because as much as grief and tragedy bring people together it's a tenuous connection. But this communion SHOULD have lasted within this country. Not because of shared grief but out of shared purpose. George Bush's ascendancy to the presidency was in dispute and this country was still split apart because of it. 9/11 fused us back together and Bush had an opportunity to unite us for a long period of time. Instead his administration exploited this fusion and in the process divided us once again. We lost our confidence. We lost our pride. And our image around the world was damaged, seemingly beyond repair.

 This morning we read the reactions from around the world and they were the flip side of the days after 9/11. The outstretched arms of the rest of the world were offered in joy, not in grief. It's not such a stretch to see that this moment in time has made America once again a symbol of hope and possibility to the rest of the world. The dream has been reborn.