I cried.

I'm not ashamed to say that I started to tear up, right here in the office, as I read (for the second time this year) the last paragraphs of Obama's speech, quoted in this particularly perceptive post on fivethirtyeight.com. Maybe it's because I'm searching for my own way to serve, or that just wrote a dvar torah for my meeting at Central tonight about connecting to others and working together to simultaneously make a better world and preserve our humanity, but I can't help but think, Obama gets it. He has more than intellect and judgement and ideas. He has heart, he has soul, and he is connected to others. He believes in being his brother's keeper (unlike a certain sibling in last week's Torah portion); he lives the line in Ephesians (a book in the New Testament that I've always liked): be subject to one another. He has a perceivable humanity, and rather than voting for him because I'd like to grab a beer together, I'm voting for him because I'd like to make the world a better place together. And I like that he asks me, each of us, to join him. So I cried in hope, I cried in anticipation. I cried in desperation to get started. I cried because I want to connect, and move forward--together.