President Obama's inspirational words relayed in his weekly YouTube address find a nation that is hurting and in search for answers.

So we can all hope and pray that Obama's call for sharing sacrifice to help those in need doesn't fall on deaf or uncaring ears. Obama's historic victory in November would seem to put him in a perfect position to deliver such a message. ...

"This season of giving should also be a time to renew a sense of common purpose and shared citizenship," he says. "Now more than ever, we must rededicate ourselves to the notion that we share a common destiny as Americans – that I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper. Now, we must all do our part to serve one another; to seek new ideas and new innovation; and to start a new chapter for our great country."

His personal history is one of self sacrifice. With his Harvard degree, Obama could have chosen many well paying jobs during his youth. But he moved to Chicago to work as a community organizer, helping people who were far less fortunate. Just compare his background to that of the current White House occupant (failed oilman, failed baseball team owner) and the contrast is striking.

However, Obama faces a daunting task in pulling this country together. And hopefully his actions will ignite a firestorm of giving and service among the nation's youth, a constituency that helped forge his election win.

Rarely has the need been so great and the stakes so high.

Previous YouTube Addresses
+ The White House Science & Tech Nerds
+ Obama's Right to Blast Housing Mess
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Paul Shepard blogs the Democrat side of politics for BlackVoices. He has been a journalist for 16 years; on the national urban/minority affairs beat for The Cleveland Plain Dealer and for The AP in Washington, D.C.