This morning, I came across the words of Krista Tippett. She is a well-known radio talk-show host and the host of the podcast "On Being.” That show explores the connection between deep thinking and imagination in an attempt to renews our inner and outer life, as well as our life together. I have followed her work for years and find my mind being renewed because of some of the ideas that she discusses.
Krista writes the following:
"[Hope is] something you put into practice. . . We’re learning through neuroscience [that] what you practice you become. And that goes for being more patient, being more hopeful, being more compassionate, just like it goes for any other skills. . . And so I think you can be—you can choose to be hopeful, which is a . . . far more courageous choice than cynicism. I mean, cynicism is really easy. It’s never surprised or disappointed. And it doesn’t lift a finger to change anything. [By practicing hope], we can develop spiritual muscle memory. That the more we do it. . . it can become instinctive.”
These words spoke strongly to me today as I thought about the work of the church in a community that is conflicted. We encounter so many people in our days whose defining traits are large doses of both cynicism and criticism. Hope is hard to muster for them. These people often carry their cynical ideas around ready to thrust them upon anyone who does not agree with their point of view. There is no longer space available to disagree and converse.
Personally, I hear very few words offered of hope on the news or radio. I don’t hear hopeful words offered in books that I read often enough. Having a “hot take” has replaced the aspirational-nature that hope offers—a nature God calls us to. As hope has been removed from the conversation, and cynicism takes its place, many people have stopped asking open-ended questions—which we know are the gateway to creative thinking.
It seems that hope will not sell in the marketplace of ideas any longer--so it is forgotten.
But I wonder what could happen if we practiced hope in moments when it could be easy not to? When the temptation presented itself to join the cultural cacophony of doubt, I wonder what would happen if we resisted that temptation? What would it look like to offer hope to our friends and co-workers when they offered cynicism only?
I hope that you will take time today to practice this posture of hope when the world around you, and the people around you, do not. . .
Blessings
Rev. Derek
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