We can see more than Washington, D.C., from Alaska

Americans are not so much united as connected. Sometimes those connections are subtle, more felt than seen. Sometimes they are in-your-face obvious.

My wife and I flew from Anchorage to Newark, N.J., for the inauguration. We then rode in a rented car to our nation’s capital. Once there we walked all over the city.

Having lived in D.C. for four years, I had some sense of place. What I did not have was any previous experience with such a multi-million-sized crowd of happy people. And this from a guy who has been in Times Square for New Year’s Eve.

For those who were not present, let me share some small reflections. There’s a church on Capitol Hill that has a practice of conducting sermons as seminars. We had the pleasure of listening to the pastor read and discuss a scriptural passage before asking the question: “What does the election of Barack Obama mean to you?” I was moved by the range of answers, many containing the thread of what would emerge as a theme during our stay: change, but change unexpected and with a profound quality, touching soul and sensibility. Whatever race or age, the expressions of awe were not directed at the newly elected president as person as much as what electing a person of color meant.

Walking to the Mall for an afternoon of music at the Lincoln Memorial provided a practice run for the big day. The crowd was measured in the hundreds of thousands. The program was varied, history mixed with the music. Many could view this via HBO. Yet being there provided unforgettable moments, as when someone, listening to a vocalist, said, “He gets it, he really gets it.” Somehow the expansive open mall filled with a diversity of people stripped the performers to their essential qualities.

Walking to RFK Stadium the next day we joined tens of thousands in an expression of service by helping pack gifts for those serving in the military. The extended sense of participation was for me a meditation on what service means, especially because of its voluntary nature.

The inauguration was an unparalleled event — the high point obviously the oath of office and inauguration speech. Less obvious, but none-the-less real, was the walk to the Mall. The closer we came, the more crowded the access. This at 8 a.m. Standing with over 1 million people, catching a view of the Capitol in the distance while watching a close-up of events on a nearby Jumbotron, was an extraordinary experience. Looking about and talking with other participants I realized the diversity of characteristics that made up each person made more than a crowd of clones. This was not a digitized background set for a movie but a living, breathing gathering of individuals celebrating voluntarily a change point in our nation’s history.

Many will comment about the quality of the inauguration speech, whether it should have had a different cadence, or included other topics. Being there I can say the newly elected president “gets it.” He spoke clearly to me: Our future is not just about electing one person. It is about each of us. Our success will be measured by how well we see one another as part of the future, not as an obstacle to overcome. We have connected “Yes we can” to “Yes we did.” And we can do it again.

Michael Chmielewski lives in Palmer and serves on the city council.