In these troubled times,
With unsettled nations,
A rancorous public discourse,
And unprecedented disruptions,
Cultivating our own sense of peace and extending it to that part of the world within our influence has never been more important,
And recognizing the basis of an informed hope may well be key to fostering a firmer faith in the long-term expression of good.
When I was young,
I believed that the world was making steady progress toward peace,
Harmony,
And justice.
I am old enough to remember the war in Vietnam,
In the evening,
Sitting by the radio,
Yes,
The radio,
With my older brother and my parents,
Listening to the numbers from the draft lottery be read.
Several of my brother's friends had already been drafted and deployed,
But my brother had a student deferral and so the chance that his number would be called was very small.
It never was.
As the 70s and then the 80s unfolded,
My belief that the world was progressing became enhanced.
With the fall of the Berlin Wall,
I began to feel that the world had moved another step closer to what I uncritically believed was peace and justice,
The kind,
Invariably,
I experienced in my home country and home community.
Being young,
I had very little experience beyond either.
In short,
I lived within the belief that we were getting better,
That science was advancing,
That human rights were advancing,
That poverty was receding,
That democracy was spreading.
I thought that perhaps by the 21st century,
Which then seemed a long way off,
We'd be mostly beyond things like racism,
War,
And dictatorships.
These recent years have seriously undermined my naive faith in the advancement of all people toward the kind of democratic justice I had envisioned.
When Russia invaded the Ukraine,
With no apparent pretense nor provocation,
I was dismayed.
Modern nations don't just invade other nations anymore,
I thought,
And yet there were the tanks.
I began to understand the distinction between optimism and hope.
Optimism can be seen as an unconditioned state of mind that exists prior to events unless shapes one's interpretation of those events.
Being optimistic,
I saw the fall of the Berlin Wall as a sign of some invisible hand of justice moving us all forward.
Hope,
On the other hand,
Might best be seen as a conditioned state of mind chosen in response to events.
The Berlin Wall fell because of the concerted efforts of many,
Many people,
Which,
In my optimism,
I failed to see.
In short,
Optimism sees and expects the good to come about.
Hope has faith that the good may well come about,
But only with a clear view of the challenges and with the hard work of dedicated people.
Optimism,
We might say,
Is passive.
Hope is active.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Famously said,
The arc of the moral universe is long,
But it bends toward justice.
Was King an optimist,
Or is this an expression of hope?
Few worked harder or sacrificed more for justice than Martin Luther King Jr.
His was not a naive optimism.
He had faith in a moral universe which moved toward justice,
But only with our help,
Our hard work.
It was his,
And the work of others,
That gave him hope.
I find myself now on guard against my naive optimism,
Which I lived for so many years.
I do not know if we as a species will come through these most challenging times.
I do not know if the differences among groups of people will lead to irreparable breaches or even violence.
I do know that many people are planning for the violence,
Expecting it,
And even desiring it.
I continue to nurture hope,
However,
In the small actions we all can take,
Fostering peace and compassion in the communities we live in,
Including here on Inside Timer.
And we can consciously choose hope when we see others working for peace and justice on large or small scales.
As we move through our days,
As we engage with events and news stories that may shake our faith and undermine our optimism,
Let us try to acknowledge the acts,
Large and small,
That we and others take toward greater peace and justice as signs of hope.
Thank you for practicing with me today.
I wish you a beautiful day.
