Moments of Unutterable fulfillment

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.
- Martin Luther King Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, Dec. 11, 1964.

Sometimes words don't even come close. Last night the most telling comments on the election were visual images. Jesse Jackson standing in a crowd in Chicago, tears streaming down his face. Juan Williams on Fox News, choking and fighting back tears, while trying to explain the significance of Obama's victory. The crowd in the Ebeneezer Baptist Church, hands in the air, screaming, leaping up and down. The crowd of students that spontaneously gathered in front of the White House waving signs.

These moments few and fleeting in our lives, where everyone know they are experiencing history, where they are part of history. Too many of these moments are painful, tragic moments like 9/11; so it a rare pleasure to share in this triumphal moment.

I want to savor this moment because I know that there are difficult, painful moment to come. I stayed up way too late, flipping channels, looking for the perfect analysis of the election. In the end, I realized that nothing could say it better than Jesse Jackson standing quietly in a noisy crowd with tears streaming down his face.