Musings from Joel

Its been a long, exciting day of dramatic change and optimism. Growing up in the South, as a Texan, I never ever dreamed that something so dramatic could happen in my lifetime. A Black man has become POTUS. But, beyond the color of his skin he is, quite simply, the best man for the job. I listened to Obama’s speech today and was duly impressed with his keen sense of understanding of where our nation is and what we need to do. More enticing to me is that Obama is one of my people. He came from a middle class family and was raised by his single mother and grandmother. I can completely relate to his experiences. He went to Harvard on his own merits, and appears to be a great orator capable of reaching across party lines to  make things happen. Only time will tell, but I believe in my heart that he is the agent of change this country needs. We need to face some very harsh realities and start living our lives according to those realities.

I can only hope he is as successful as his inauguration was today. The sense of pride and joy I felt that our country could put aside its differences and prejudices to elect Obama within a generation of MLK truly shows how much this country can do in such a short time. Compared to the Middle East, China or a 100 other countries where change is measured in centuries, rather than decades, this is truly a remarkable time in history. God bless our country.