Hope in a Time of Extremes - Pastor's Column Aug. 2022
Hope in a Time of Extremes
The recent string of US Supreme Court case decisions and opinions (especially concerning the overturning of Roe v. Wade) have once again revealed how polarized we can be as a people. Truly, we find this to be the case anytime we approach those difficult issues in politics, social justice, and our many freedoms. But it gets tiring to see all the animosity, the anger, and the despair. Those are the extremes, and they are so often easier to see as they are held before us more frequently than any level-headed, well-thought responses and dialogue. The extremes get better ratings in the media. All our advanced digital technologies put it in the palm our hands. Social media platforms, while providing many good connections in families and among friends, also gives each and every user their very own soap box to sound off on the issues of the day. And in our freedom of speech, we often do not speak gently.
One of the columnists (Liel Leibovitz) that I regularly read in First Things: a journal of religion and public life recently remarked that it seemed most of his friends fell into two groups. One of the groups he calls “The Red Hots.” They are the angry ones who comb over all the news stories looking for the next thing to fuel their ongoing outrage. They look for anything that confirms their suspicions that the enemies, whether on the left or the right, are at it again. The other group he calls “The Bluebirds.” More gentle souls belong to this group. They will spend their time telling you about how terrible everything is and grieving at length over many things. Essentially, the two groups exist on the extreme ends of a spectrum: rage and despair. I admit that it becomes increasingly difficult not to be pulled one direction or the other to the point of feeling either the intense anger that wants to pick a fight with someone or the utter, immobilizing hopelessness of despair. Leibovitz wrote in his column, “Rage and despair: These are the two dominant flavors… Both are rancid. Not that we’ve nothing to stoke our ire; much of observable reality these days is grim. But people of faith have a better, infallible source of renewable energy—hope.”
Leibovitz is right as rain, of course. People of faith have hope in God and hope for the future. We look to the fullness of the reign of God. We hope for the fullness of his Kingdom. We look for the day when every tear will be wiped away. We look to the time when rage nor despair will be able to affect our life of faith. For in this present life, rage and despair are merely tools in the hands of our adversary, the devil, that seek to strip us of the hope we have in our Lord and his eternal kingdom. That is our true fight. The fight is not really with politicians, policies, courts, and certainly not with each other. But rather, the struggle is against those powers that seek to strip us of our hope and faith. When faith and hope are lost we find ourselves in a spiritual crisis. It is then that we begin to turn to those feelings of rage and despair, which only lead to more rage and despair. It is then, in that spiritual crisis, that these extreme forces begin to weigh us down and pull us apart.
How do we keep faith and hope in the midst of the extremes? First, we remember that since our faith and hope is in God, it cannot truly be lost. Perhaps we then continue by looking at a given issue of our discontent and asking, “What good can God bring out of this situation? What opportunities are presented here for new growth?” and then expect that God will bring something good out of it. After all, God indeed gives new growth out of the rubble and ashes of our worst blunders. Finally, we must pay attention so that we may look for and notice what is good in the world around us, no matter how small a thing it may be. We may be surprised to find that there is more hope remaining in the midst of rage and despair than we first realized. Have faith in God, look for what is good, notice places ripe for new growth, and speak of the hope that is in you.