“Hope does not mean that our protests will suddenly awaken
the dead consciences, the atrophied souls, of the plutocrats running
Halliburton, Goldman Sachs, Exxon Mobil or the government.
Hope does not mean we will reform Wall Street swindlers and speculators.
Hope does not mean that the nation’s ministers and rabbis,
who know the words of the great Hebrew prophets, will leave their houses of
worship to practice the religious beliefs they preach. Most clerics like fine,
abstract words about justice and full collection plates, but know little of
real hope.
Hope knows that unless we physically defy government control
we are complicit in the violence of the state. All who resist keep hope alive.
All who succumb to fear, despair and apathy become enemies of hope.
Hope has a cost. Hope is not comfortable or easy. Hope
requires personal risk. Hope does not come with the right attitude. Hope is not
about peace of mind. Hope is an action. Hope is doing something.
Chris Hedges
_____________________________________
Day one
2025
Death in New Orleans
Death in Vegas
Oregon clobbered in the Rose Bowl
Twenty days until Trump (Musk) takes control
A day without sun
Gray, no snow
Winter at its worst
How do we hope when there is no hope
When evil wins
Love loses
And Jesus is coopted by Herod
How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? (Psalm
137)
How?
How do I wake up tomorrow
And rise with joy and expectation
How do I walk out this door
And into the doors of people hurting
How do I slip into the pulpit
And say words of hope?
How do I
Find the peace that passes all understanding
Because I do not understand
Or rather I do understand
That God is not going to save us from ourselves.
What I understand is that we are called to be
Who we really are
Salt
People whose very presence changes the world
Jesus said we are salt
“We are that which enhances or embitters, soothes or
irritates, melts or stings,
preserves or ruins.
For better or for worse, we are the salt of the earth” Rohr
Its tricky
Salt fails when it dominates.
“Instead of eliciting goodness, it destroys the rich
potential all around it. Salt poured out without discretion leaves a burnt,
bitter sensation in its wake.
It ruins what it tries to enhance. It repels” Rohr
But salt fails when it loses its saltiness
It also fails when it is not in the mix
We cannot withdraw
We cannot be silent
But
We don’t want to imbitter, reject, repel
We want to flavor and savor
With love
How to be salt?
I don’t know
How to influence but not repel
Savor but not ruin
I only know
I enter this year with anxiety
Evil seems to have won
Hate has trumped love
Control has replaced compassion
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.” Yeats
So I enter this year
With little hope
But knowing that I must embrace hope against hope
But not doing it well.
How about you?
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