JANUARY: #hopeforlight
“Life begins on the other side of despair.”
―Jean-Paul Sartre
Everyone, everywhere is feeling inundated with feelings of fear and grief over heartbreaking news, images, and stories―the kind that make you gasp and feel overcome with hopelessness.
Hope doesn’t mean denying these realities. Author Rebecca Solnit reminds us: It’s important to say what hope is not: it is not the belief that everything was, is, or will be fine. The evidence is all around us of tremendous suffering and tremendous destruction. It is not a sunny everything-is-getting-better narrative, though it may counter the everything-is-getting-worse narrative. You could call it an account of complexities and uncertainties, with openings.
In this conversation, we can dwell on all that is broken in the world, or we can hold a parallel view. We can see ourselves as people who attend to the wounds of the world. There are more good people in the world than there are terrorists ― those who get up every day to help others, despite the pain they live with. Babies are still being born and people are still falling in love. Neighbors are helping one another and friends are reaching out. We can join the good ones.
Reflect on a time of personal despair. What do we as human beings learn through loss, tragedy, and dark nights of the soul?
The world needs people who see themselves as servants of peace. In 2024, are you feeling called to serve? Or are you feeling called to conserve?
You can find plenty of noise and drama from pundits in media channels. Same for the people with whom you live. Name one step you can take to reduce the impact of news about world drama/trauma to create a greater sense of ease and connection at home.
Regarding your kids’ and/or grandkids’ futures, name one way you can counter your own fear and and worry.
As a group, create a prayer or affirmation or mantra to help each other navigate the storm outside and find peace inside.