Hope or Hopeless?

For those of you who are in any way watching my Facebook, Twitter, or blog, you can probably sense a bit of a theme… I’m overly excitable and I’m fired up.

I just can’t help it.

Over the past few weeks I’ve read books about transformational development, asset-based community development, fair-trade movements, shifting mindsets away from limitless economic growth, sustainable food initiatives, community gardening, and economic development.

I’ve read old and difficult biblical passages about wives submitting to husbands, slaves submitting to masters, God hardening the heart of Pharaoh, Israelites escaping Egyptians, the creation of the world, Jesus calling a woman a dog, and the anti-Christ. In all of these difficult texts, I have felt new life being breathed into the passages, and I have again and again found a God who is concerned with the plight of the poor, the marginalized, and the underserved in our communities. Through these passages, I hear that we are called to speak out against injustice and participate in the life giving work Jesus began.

I read these things, and I get excited. I get hopeful for our world. I reflect on my time in Helena and my experiences with kids whose societal dictates would suggest they aren’t capable of amounting to much. I remember the ways I watched them blow societal stereotypes to pieces. I remember experiences I had, and I challenge you to find me a student as innovative as some of the ones I met in Helena, Arkansas.

All of this makes me hopeful. All of this makes me glad.

Just when I am brimming with excitement for the future of our nation and world to the point that my soul cannot bear it, I turn on the presidential debate. This does not make me very hopeful. This does not make me very glad.

I watch the presidential debates, and I see that my notion of hope is very disconnected to either party’s platform. I read about a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives who called “slavery a blessing” for African Americans, and I brim with anger to the point that I want to give up.

I then must decide. We then must decide. How do we respond?  Do we respond with hope or with hopelessness?

I choose to respond with hope. There are so many people in this world, in this nation who are fighting for justice, and that makes me hopeful. Many are doing it the name of Christ, and many are not. Either way, I feel called to join that pursuit of justice as I seek to live this kingdom lifestyle Jesus inaugurated.

The road of hope is not an idealistic world where everything is great, the middle class is thriving, and rainbows pervade the universe. The road of hope is the narrow way that involves our internalizing the idea that our world is reaching a capacity. It involves us all realizing that sacrifice will be necessary, but it is possible through crossing political, religious, and societal lines. The road of hope involves us breaking down barriers of “us” versus “them.” The road of hope is not on a party platform. The road of hope is not in stuffy religious dogma. The road of hope is the road less traveled; the narrow and winding road that leads to wisdom, peace, and life.

Just for MJL (And Jesus) – Amen