To those approaching Inauguration Day with dread, who feel a sense of foreboding tightly wrapped around them like a cold, wet blanket:

The fabric of this nation is strengthened by and woven from a million diverse threads.  Our daily interactions.  The work in our neighborhoods and communities.  Our willingness to fearlessly live out our values.  Donald Trump can’t affect or alter that.

To those looking forward to this new chapter with hopefulness and elation:

The fabric of this nation is strengthened by and woven from a million diverse threads.  Our daily interactions.  The work in our neighborhoods and communities.  Our willingness to fearlessly live out our values.  Donald Trump can’t do this work.  Only you can.  

So in a time that’s increasingly polarized, we can all still find common ground in the meeting place of our shared humanity.  This isn’t Trump’s or any other politician’s country.  It is ours.  Through the triumphs and the successes.  It is ours.  Through the national tragedies and uncertain times, we share a common purpose.  To give of ourselves. To love freely. To comfort the despondent.  To offer our voice to the voiceless.

Together.

There will undoubtedly be factious skirmishes and principled disagreements over the coming years.  There are voices that will loudly decry the Trump presidency while others bask in its perceived glow.  When his presidency fades into the history books, our efforts will still reverberate; our engagement will still be felt.  The interconnected web of millions of committed, passionate citizens is impenetrable.  The foundation built by the tireless toil of the resolute will not be shaken.  The hopes that are whispered, stuttered, or shouted into the shapeless void will not go unheard.