Losing hope

The video above is from the great television series, iRobot. I post it because I find myself losing hope right now and I think this analysis is right on the money. When I lose hope, I stop writing. I just dump. And that just polarizes everyone.

These are the social commentaries that are beginning to emerge. They are powerful. They are true. But they can leave us hopeless. One of the last stages fascism depends on is the belief there is no going back. Plunge headlong into the abyss. You have no power. You have no resource. This is why the counsel of the ancients is so important. Fasting, however small, becomes important. Benedictine practice tells us, "begin again." It is not over. It is just that we are in the death throes of a system that is buckling under the long arc of the moral universe. And that can feel like our death. One of the best things we can do is to find a people or a place that is totally hopeless--a place that has totally given up on the system because they have already been broken by it. Invest in that struggle. Invest in that people and place. Let them lead you. A hope against hope begins to emerge as our heart becomes soft and pliable and invests in something real and life-giving.

This is our challenge now as fascism will entreat us to give up at every turn. It will beckon us to indulge our addictions, individually and corporately. It will tell us that we are crazy, loony, and alone. We will hear that from our closest family members and friends because they are invested in the system at different places than we are. And we will sound very much like them when they choose to go off the grid at other places in their life.

That is why we will need a group of people or a place who or which will offer an alternative message. Community building is vital at this time. But investing is the first step. Taking one foot and courageously putting it over the fence, not in a one time act, but in a small and regular, consistent, and persistent way will spawn life within us. We will realize we are not called to be perfect. We are called toward working on transforming the system.

Let's begin. Talk to one another. Do not let your voice go silent. Make mistakes. Sin boldly. Find alternative media. Join the struggle.