This year’s holiday season culminates a crazy political process that has had a profoundly disillusioning impact on me, and I’m sure for some of you. However given my faith in life’s purposefulness and belief, there are opportunities for growth in every encounter, I think it warrants some consideration.
Our fellow citizens in their frustration with political nonsense and governmental gridlock have elected someone with no governing or true leadership experience. My wife was especially heartbroken that the first woman, who was highly qualified and experienced, still hit the same glass ceiling she has been battered by her whole life. With Russian hacking, FBI intrusions, and Hillary having won the popular vote by 2.5+ million votes, it’s hard not to succumb to despair. We’re reminded of Benjamin Disraeli’s observation that, “Despair is the conclusion of fools” and T.D. Jakes, “God’s grace is painted on the canvas of despair.”
For those of us who embrace progressive thinking and believe that science and climate change is real and reading books is worthwhile, how do we combat despair? In the debris of despair, we build our character because despair shows us the limits of our imagination. Remember that just when the caterpillar thought the world was over it became a butterfly!
So how do we find hope and purposefulness in all this? Deepak Chopra noted, “All great changes are preceded by chaos.” As Joan Baez advocated for decades, “Action is the antidote to despair.” Nothing happens until the pain of remaining the same outweighs the fear of change. We’re discovering that you can transform your world in an instant by the way you choose to see it. As St. Augustine reflected, “Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see they do not remain the way they are.”
Since the election the ACLU, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Anti-Defamation League, Sierra Club, the International Refugee Assistance Project and countless other organizations have experienced unprecedented increases in donations (most from firsttime donors). If you think you’re too small to have an impact, think about being in a dark room with a mosquito. So the challenge for an enlightened response to all the judgmental divisiveness permeating our interactions is to choose compassion. Mahatma Gandhi reminded us, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they seem invincible; but in the end, they always fall – think about it – ALWAYS!”
Randy Voeks
Tofte
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