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"Change has come to America."
- US President-Elect Barack Obama

It was indeed pleasant to wake up this morning with the feeling that things can change for the better. So many of the phrases used in last night's presidential and congressional speeches said it over and over again: this is not a mandate for a party or ideology but a mandate for change... true equality for Americans... a chance to repair our relationship with other nations... the possibility of universal health care coverage... energy independence and real protection for our planet...

I am heartened that the words of truth that I was looking for were present in Obama's subdued victory speech, right alongside the message of hope: "Even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime - two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. [...] The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America - I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you--we as a people will get there."

Obama might be our beacon of hope, our symbol of change, but he is not a messiah.  He does not come to walk among us performing miracles. He is here to lead, and we as a people must be willing to follow.  In the words of Nicolas Sarkozy, the "election has raised enormous hope," but the election is only the beginning.  The American people--you and I and everyone we know--must now walk the walk.  Not blindly, not unquestioningly.  We must be willing to judge each other on equal terms, we must be willing to set aside selfishness and greed for the common good, we must be willing to examine our lifestyles and recognize that the greatest untapped energy source in the United States is conservation and efficiency.  We must find a way to solve our economic crisis without relying on increased consumerism as the solution, lest we perpetuate our role as a cancer on this planet rather than as a species which belongs here as part of the global ecosystem.  We must be willing to gaze toward the horizon, and not be distracted or dismayed by the rocks in our path.  It will take broad-minded thinking, a willingness to honestly self-examine, and the capacity to pursue change within each and every one of us.

I write this as a reminder to everyone who voted for change, and hope that I do not come across as exceedingly cynical in my words.  This is difficult, as things have only just begun, and I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, only the lantern which will light our way.

Let us not lose our momentum, friends.