Acting Our Way into Hope

Martin Luther King once said, “we must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.” Hope is at the heart of social transformation and, frankly, a good life. Recently, I read a short book on climate activist Greta Thunberg, a volume in the Nelson Mandela Foundation Series, “I know this to be true.” She expresses a similar sentiment as Martin Luther King: “The one thing we need more than hope is action. Once we start to act, hope is everywhere. So instead of looking for hope, look for action. Then, and only then, hope will come.”

Hopeful action. Living into hope involves living…acting…realizing that what you do matters. Fifteen year old, Greta Thunberg was initially depressed as she read of the horrors ahead if we don’t respond to climate change. She found meaning and hope when a fellow activist told her of the protests – involving school strikes – led by the students of Marjory Stoneham Douglas High School, protesting our nation’s failure to respond to gun violence. She acted, going on strike and protesting in front of the Swedish Parliament, and then a movement began involving millions of youth and adults.

Harry Emerson Fosdick counseled, “Save us from weak resignation to the evils we abhor.” Resignation and hopelessness go hand in hand. Resignation, the belief that we can do nothing, disempowers us, and leaves the future in the hands of the powers of destruction. I find it disturbing when persons of privilege believe they can do nothing to change the world. But then I realize that I am also tempted to be passive in the face of global and national challenges. With privilege comes power and when privileged persons abdicate power, the future is in doubt. We need to go beyond being guilty bystanders (Thomas Merton) to becoming agents of the future.

Abraham Joshua Heschel invokes the wisdom of Jewish mysticism: if you save one soul, it is as if you saved the whole world; if you destroy a soul, it is as if you destroyed the world. I believe that this statement is too expansive: the world is saved one moment, one act, and one person at a time. The moral arc of history is propelled forward by our actions, our willingness to align ourselves with values greater than our own.

Given the many evils that confront us – from the attack on democracy, climate change, rise in racism, white nationalism, and Russian aggression in Ukraine – we are inclined to say that the world is too much with us, and our sense of agency collapses. Yet, one act at a time, we can change the change the world, reclaim hope, and discover our vocation as God’s companions in healing the world.

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Bruce Epperly is a pastor, professor, and author of over sixty books, including “Talking Politics with Jesus: A Process Perspective on the Sermon on the Mount,” “Mystics in Action: Twelve Saints for Today,” “Walking with Francis of Assisi: From Privilege to Activism,” “The Work of Christmas: The Twelve Days of Christmas with Howard Thurman,” and “Prophetic Healing: Howard Thurman’s Vision of Contemplative Activism.” He may be reached at drbruceepperly@gmail.com.