Hope
01/02/24 01:38
At the end of January in this new year, there are a lot of people who are struggling. Of course there are the obvious places of human suffering that are so evident from reading the news.
After the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip in which hundreds of Israeli civilians were killed and hostages were taken, the Israeli military has engaged in a campaign of retaliation including extensive bombardment on Gaza, a large-scale ground invasion with the stated goal of destroying Hamas and controlling Gaza that has resulted in the death of over 26,000 Palestinians, the injury of an additional 65,000, the destruction of 20 of the 22 hospitals in northern Gaza, and the displacement of nearly the entire population of the area.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has resulted in the displacement of more than 7 million people, including more than 3 million refugees. The United Nations Children’s Fund has estimated that half of the children in Ukraine have been displaced by the war and no end is in sight.
The war in Yemen moves in and out of an uncomfortable truce after claiming the lives of tens of thousands. Conflict in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, and the Congo continue to destroy lives and hope for countless people.
Although our nation has avoided full out war in recent years, there is increasing anxiety over drones launched from Houthi bases in the Middle East, including the attack that killed three American troops.
And it isn’t just war that has made people anxious.
There is a growing understanding of the depth of the crisis resulting from human-caused climate change. Glaciers are melting. Sea levels are rising. Intense weather events are increasing. Forest fires are becoming more intense and destructive. Ocean reefs are being destroyed. Animal species are becoming extinct. The possibility of the destruction of all human life is perilously close.
Nearly everyone with whom I speak these days has deep anxiety over the state of American politics. The extreme polarization of our country and the free use of the language of fascism is making many who do not live in the United States nervous about the outcome of the 2024 election and the state of the American congress and judiciary.
It shouldn’t surprise us that when the fictional Elmo, Muppet character from Sesame Street, posted on X (formerly Twitter), asking people how they were, thousands of users replied, sharing grief and despair. The post on Monday morning seemed casual and innocent. The response was overwhelming. One user wrote, “Elmo I’m suffering from existential dread over here.” Another wrote, “The world is burning around us, Elmo.” A third wrote, “Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep. Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come. Every single day and every single week for life.” Celebrities including actress Rachel Ziegler joined in saying she was “resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I am kinda sad.”
it is easy to dismiss exchanges of short sentences on social media, especially those created as part of the development of fictional characters for television. Elmo isn’t a real human being. There is no puppet that is actually sitting at a keyboard typing entries. The account was not opened by a furry red creature with a bulbous orange nose and a pair of google eyes. Cookie Monster and Bert also have X accounts and have posted recently, but that doesn’t make them human.
The furry of responses, however, is indicative of a general anxiety and lack of well being that seems to be a part of everyday life for so many people in the world today. Hope is difficult to find in the face of the enormous challenges that face humanity. It doesn’t help that dismissing hope is a tactic employed by moneyed interests in pursuit of short term profits. The recent shift from climate denial to public claims that proposed solutions will not work is evident in the publicity of those seeking short term profits from unrestrained oil and gas extraction. Cynicism runs rampant in political discourse. An alarming number of people have no trust in any institutions and want to tear everything down without thought of what might replace schools, courts, legislatures, hospitals, churches, and other institutions. A lot of people speak and act as if they have no hope of positive change or positive outcomes.
David Beebe was one of the ministers ordained by the then brand-new United Church of Christ in 1959. He served churches in northern California and Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as serving as a college chaplain and serving in the national setting of the United Church of Christ on the Stewardship Council. His hymn can be sung to its unique tune or to the more familiar hymn tune Hyfrydol. That hymn continues to speak to me in the midst of troubled times filled with so many troubled people:
Let us hope when hope seems hopeless,
When the dreams we dreamed have died.
When the morning breaks in brightness,
Hunger shall be satisfied.
One who sows the fields with weeping
Shall retrace the sorrowing way
And rejoice in harvest bounty
At the breaking of the day.
Faith and hope in love’s compassion
Will survive though knowledge cease,
Though the tongues of joy fall silent,
Dull the words of prophecies.
Faith shall see and trust its object;
Hope shall set its anchor sure;
Love shall bloom in Love eternal.
Faith and hope and love endure.
Like a child outgrowing childhood,
Setting childhood things away,
We will learn to live in freedom,
In the life of God’s new day.
Now we see as in a mirror,
Then we shall see face to face,
Understand how love’s compassion
Blossoms through amazing Grace.
For thousands of years the poets have given direction to the lives of faithful people. Once again we find ourselves in need of the vision and counsel of poets and hymn writers.
Social media posts by real and fictional characters can’t tell the whole story of the state of humanity in our time. I give thanks for the poets who have too much to say to be contained by the limits of popular media. May their songs ring out for all to hear.
After the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel from the Gaza Strip in which hundreds of Israeli civilians were killed and hostages were taken, the Israeli military has engaged in a campaign of retaliation including extensive bombardment on Gaza, a large-scale ground invasion with the stated goal of destroying Hamas and controlling Gaza that has resulted in the death of over 26,000 Palestinians, the injury of an additional 65,000, the destruction of 20 of the 22 hospitals in northern Gaza, and the displacement of nearly the entire population of the area.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has resulted in the displacement of more than 7 million people, including more than 3 million refugees. The United Nations Children’s Fund has estimated that half of the children in Ukraine have been displaced by the war and no end is in sight.
The war in Yemen moves in and out of an uncomfortable truce after claiming the lives of tens of thousands. Conflict in Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, and the Congo continue to destroy lives and hope for countless people.
Although our nation has avoided full out war in recent years, there is increasing anxiety over drones launched from Houthi bases in the Middle East, including the attack that killed three American troops.
And it isn’t just war that has made people anxious.
There is a growing understanding of the depth of the crisis resulting from human-caused climate change. Glaciers are melting. Sea levels are rising. Intense weather events are increasing. Forest fires are becoming more intense and destructive. Ocean reefs are being destroyed. Animal species are becoming extinct. The possibility of the destruction of all human life is perilously close.
Nearly everyone with whom I speak these days has deep anxiety over the state of American politics. The extreme polarization of our country and the free use of the language of fascism is making many who do not live in the United States nervous about the outcome of the 2024 election and the state of the American congress and judiciary.
It shouldn’t surprise us that when the fictional Elmo, Muppet character from Sesame Street, posted on X (formerly Twitter), asking people how they were, thousands of users replied, sharing grief and despair. The post on Monday morning seemed casual and innocent. The response was overwhelming. One user wrote, “Elmo I’m suffering from existential dread over here.” Another wrote, “The world is burning around us, Elmo.” A third wrote, “Every morning, I cannot wait to go back to sleep. Every Monday, I cannot wait for Friday to come. Every single day and every single week for life.” Celebrities including actress Rachel Ziegler joined in saying she was “resisting the urge to tell Elmo that I am kinda sad.”
it is easy to dismiss exchanges of short sentences on social media, especially those created as part of the development of fictional characters for television. Elmo isn’t a real human being. There is no puppet that is actually sitting at a keyboard typing entries. The account was not opened by a furry red creature with a bulbous orange nose and a pair of google eyes. Cookie Monster and Bert also have X accounts and have posted recently, but that doesn’t make them human.
The furry of responses, however, is indicative of a general anxiety and lack of well being that seems to be a part of everyday life for so many people in the world today. Hope is difficult to find in the face of the enormous challenges that face humanity. It doesn’t help that dismissing hope is a tactic employed by moneyed interests in pursuit of short term profits. The recent shift from climate denial to public claims that proposed solutions will not work is evident in the publicity of those seeking short term profits from unrestrained oil and gas extraction. Cynicism runs rampant in political discourse. An alarming number of people have no trust in any institutions and want to tear everything down without thought of what might replace schools, courts, legislatures, hospitals, churches, and other institutions. A lot of people speak and act as if they have no hope of positive change or positive outcomes.
David Beebe was one of the ministers ordained by the then brand-new United Church of Christ in 1959. He served churches in northern California and Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as serving as a college chaplain and serving in the national setting of the United Church of Christ on the Stewardship Council. His hymn can be sung to its unique tune or to the more familiar hymn tune Hyfrydol. That hymn continues to speak to me in the midst of troubled times filled with so many troubled people:
Let us hope when hope seems hopeless,
When the dreams we dreamed have died.
When the morning breaks in brightness,
Hunger shall be satisfied.
One who sows the fields with weeping
Shall retrace the sorrowing way
And rejoice in harvest bounty
At the breaking of the day.
Faith and hope in love’s compassion
Will survive though knowledge cease,
Though the tongues of joy fall silent,
Dull the words of prophecies.
Faith shall see and trust its object;
Hope shall set its anchor sure;
Love shall bloom in Love eternal.
Faith and hope and love endure.
Like a child outgrowing childhood,
Setting childhood things away,
We will learn to live in freedom,
In the life of God’s new day.
Now we see as in a mirror,
Then we shall see face to face,
Understand how love’s compassion
Blossoms through amazing Grace.
For thousands of years the poets have given direction to the lives of faithful people. Once again we find ourselves in need of the vision and counsel of poets and hymn writers.
Social media posts by real and fictional characters can’t tell the whole story of the state of humanity in our time. I give thanks for the poets who have too much to say to be contained by the limits of popular media. May their songs ring out for all to hear.
