Hope is a Spiritual Practice
Hope,
like every virtue, is a choice
that
becomes a practice
that
becomes a spiritual muscle memory.
It
is a renewable resource for moving through life as it is,
not
as we wish it to be.
—from
“Becoming
Wise”
by Krista Tippett
All
it would take is one quick look around to start feeling completely
hopeless. Crime, pollution, political corruption, poverty, hunger,
physical violence, sexual violence, emotional violence, gun violence,
psychological violence, spiritual violence, racism, natural
disasters, un/der employment, floundering schools, homophobia,
chronic illness, paralyzing loss, crumbled dreams. . . . It really
wouldn’t take a lot to focus (what’s left of) our attention on
these vast sources of hopelessness. In fact, I know plenty of people
who do just that. I see Facebook pages devoted almost entirely to
reasons to be hopeless . . . about our government, our environment,
the spiritual state of affairs of our world. Just a glance, and I
feel instantly weary (as if I weren’t already. . . . So what am I
doing on Facebook?!).
But,
just as I don’t want to board the hopelessness train, neither do I
want to ignore reality and drift through my days in the rosy carriage
of privilege and denial. I want to approach life with the kind of
spiritual maturity that acknowledges the realities of how things are
but does not acquiesce into absolute despair. I want to manifest the
kind of hope that Krista Tippett describes in the quotation
above—where hope is really a spiritual practice—as important as
any other. This allows me to recognize situations for what they are,
but does not require that I succumb to the devastations those
situations may carry. I have (ok, I work to develop) the power—in
the form of spiritual muscle memory—to get on the spiritual bicycle
I may not have ridden in ages and move in a different direction.
So,
as I look around, yes, I see significant challenges. But I also see
the incredible gifts and commitments of members of this church rising
to meet those challenges. I see people working toward and claiming
alternative realities. I hear voices speaking out against injustice,
and I feel movements preparing to turn the tide toward greater love,
generosity, and welcome. In other words, I see reasons to hope.
See
you in church,
Christy