President Barack Obama was superb in his comfort of Americans Wednesday night during a time of mayhem. He did so by solemnly recalling the particularity of each individual slain or wounded Saturday in Tucson, while eloquently calling on every American to embrace a larger national purpose.

The strength of Obama’s remarks lay in his effort to bring America to Tucson to create a sense of a shared national grieving. He reminded Tucsonans that Americans were with them, mourning with them and adding our faith to theirs.

Obama focused on the families — and the many Americans — who are trying to find purpose after young Jared Loughner killed six Arizonans and wounded 14 others at a “Congress on the Corner” event that Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was holding at a supermarket last weekend.

The president described the people whose lives were twisted forever that fateful morning.

By putting a story behind each name, Obama helped the rest of us realize that these victims were more than names in the paper, more than public figures.

They were human beings who shared particular moments with their families, particular challenges with their colleagues and particular episodes in their journeys.

Their stories remind us of what gave each of them significance. That knowledge makes their deaths and wounds even more painful to consider, almost impossible to absorb. Our hearts are broken, as the president said.

But he also pointed a way forward, reminding us that hope doesn’t die when we are touched by evil.

Doctors say there is a new flicker of life burning in the congresswoman’s eyes. And we find strength in the heroism of individuals like Daniel Hernandez, the legislative aide who bound up his boss’ wound as she lay bleeding.

Even the event at which the victims were targeted restores our faith in democracy. As the president noted, the congressional meet-and-greet at a Tucson supermarket was “just an updated version of government of and by and for the people.”

He spoke of hope and courage and emphasized what we can do to be true to those touched by this tragedy. We must “talk with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds,” he wisely counseled.

While the early part of the program, at times, had the discordant feel of a pep rally, as those in the audience cheered and applauded, perhaps it was an understandable emotional release for a community that has been suffering in sorrow and shame.

The mood shifted as Obama took rhetorical control and spoke movingly of the individuals and national aspirations.

As we go forward, debating what must be done to stop massacres like this from recurring, let our discussions be worthy of those we have lost. It would be a national sin to let this tragedy “become one more example of where we turn on each other.”

Let us then renew our willingness to debate with dignity, understanding that those who differ from us are our fellow Americans, not our enemies.

We then can live up to the dreams of 9-year-old Christina Green, just on the brink of life. The student council member’s desire to meet Giffords ended up claiming her life. But she — as the president movingly said — is why we must stay engaged with one another.

Let us live up to her ideals.