One giant step for America, one quantum leap for Mankind

While I would not presume to state with absolutely certainty where or with whom fellow Americans here in England spent Tuesday night watching our country elect its 44th president, I for one was quietly ensconced in my flat in SE3 following a full day's work and dinner, considering winding down for the day. Suddenly, around 9pm and without any deliberate planning, like a homing pigeon compelled to return to its roost, I strode over to my laptop (I do not own a TV), logged onto CNN Live and spent the remainder of the evening (until 6am Wednesday) virtually glued non-stop to the screen, clicking back and forth between the 3 or 4 live streamings offered by CNN of breaking news in the US national elections as the results slowly trickled in, experts gave opinions and humanity everywhere held its breath; some praying and many (including me) weeping as an unprecedented and irrevocable shift in America's socio-political process gave birth to a brand new paradigm before our very eyes.

Now, I confess I do not know what you or anyone else following the elections on Tuesday night found most compelling; but as I flipped screens and gazed out into the veritable sea of my fellow Americans pouring onto the grounds of Chicago's Grant Park and assembling in ever-increasing numbers for the privilege of standing for hours, shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart, awaiting the triumphant appearance of Barack Obama as their newly elected President; I must admit that I found myself completely unprepared for what my eyes (and heart) were taking in: an inconceivable conclave of American citizens of all ages, creeds, colors and religions, and from diverse cultural, educational and socio-economic backgrounds, packed to the gills and standing upright, side by side with barely enough room to breath -- standing in unanimity with ever mounting anticipation, elation and cheering as, state by state, the results rolled in and it became incontrovertibly clear who the next President of the United States of America was going to be.

But it was when Barack Obama arrived on the scene with his wife and children, shortly after midnight Chicago time, to make his victory speech and to thank his supporters, that something flashed across my screen which I had never before witnessed in a crowd of that magnitude (not even at the Olympics). As I listened and watched, what I observed moving across the countenances of my fellow Americans as they gave their rapt attention to our new President elect, I can only describe as a stunning mix of astonished joy, acceptance, innocent wonderment, gratitude and unconditional love such as one often sees in infants and very young children. I stared, transfixed, as this unified and unifying presence blew through the throng like a standing wave of resonance: many distinct individuals -- yet one emotion, one experience, one moment shared in full consciousness by all. I felt as though I were seeing One Being, composed of and expressing through the many, but with no loss of individuality in the many. And it seemed as though this Being were, in that defining moment, waking up, opening its collective eyes and seeing the light of day for the very first time.


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