Hope
Reflections from Mair H.
Life appears to be moving at a super speed, each day revealing another reality of our present authoritarian federal government- a government we really cannot rely on for truth. And each day we see Americans awakening to this reality and standing up, speaking out, some taking their outrage to the courts, some to the street corners.
I would like to stop here for a bit, in the midst of it all, and focus on hope. You know hope, what we all are supposed to feel each day in order to get out of bed.Vaclav Havel is a wonderful read on hope. A playwright, a poet, he led his people through dark times, threatened and arrested, he inspired many to fight, to hold on, eventually becoming the first democratically elected president of Czechoslovakia. He spoke of hope as a state of mind, not related to events in the world. He felt it was a dimension of the soul, and orientation of the heart. Interesting, maybe he has something there; “ it (Hope) is not related to success but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed.”
In January, building on some local activism, one member of Greater Freeport Indivisible spearheaded the placement of a community board in the local library. This board was a spot where people could share their hopes for America, giving the community in some small way a chance to be heard.The board was filled in a few days.
There were a large number of pleas for regime change, from Dump Trump to Better, Kinder government. There were also some personal hopes, more like desires that could brighten life up: more ice cream, rain for my garden, more sunny days, better wages so I can go out more. And a greater number of hopes centered on peace, love, kindness, unity, tolerance and good will. Reading all these brought to mind that certainly flawed, idealistic group in 1776 that came up with a bottom line for our direction as a people, and the direction for their new government. Their hope lay in that the people would move in the direction of pursuing Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness under a government that respected that hope. That was their hope and like Havel's hopes it wasn't a sure thing. It still isn't. Like Havel they pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to see it through. What is your hope for America? Can we pledge life, fortune and sacred honor for those hopes? It still isn't a sure thing.