Lurching From Hope to Hope

We hope, reminds Paul in his letter to the Romans, with patience for what we cannot yet see.  In spite of all evidence to the contrary, there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, he wrote.  It’s a profound theological truth requiring a great leap of faith (trust) that leaves us still wanting hope now for what we can see.  Consider the several psalmists who confess God’s greatness, wondrous deeds in the long ago past, and intentions for the good of ‘his’ people in the future, but we are in trouble now and need help now, amen.

Whether voiced by people of faith, or the secular world alone, hope is an eternal quest.  It’s a quest that  often originates out of fear that unwanted changes are being forced on unwilling people who believe they are under attack. Sometimes their cause is just, and sometimes it isn’t.  We have had much of both in our history.

For over a decade the nation has been whipsawed by angry voices demanding to be heard.  Mostly white, appearing to be mostly working class, they have risen up against coastal elites and liberals whom they have charged with ignoring the needs, rights and freedoms of real Americans.  They were not without some cause.

Their conservative hero, Reagan, ushered in policies that favored corporations and cheap labor over workers and living wages, promising it would be good for the nation.  It was for some, but not for wages and salaries of working people.  And, truth be told, too many liberal voices advocated for the poor and working class without asking them what they thought, wanted or needed.  As well meaning as it was intended, it came off as do-gooder elitism.

In a world of relative stability with regions of violence far away, in a booming economy that left working people behind, in a nation deeply committed to redressing centuries of oppression and suppression of non-white Americans, the most strident voices of  mostly white discontent grabbed enough attention to elect Trump and energize far right-wingers favoring autocracy over democracy to take over the Republican Party, hoping to reverse trends and save a mythical vision of an America that never was.

Despite political victories, they continue to complain that no one is listening to them.  Never mind that they bellow over the radio, on television, and from one end of social media to the other. 

The far right’s mantra of complaints has morphed over the last several years to settle on vaccines and masks as symbols of oppression that deny them essential rights and freedoms.  It’s been enough to inspire a few disgruntled truckers and friends to mount convoys of disruption coagulating urban arteries.  It’s been a pitiful if annoying effort as mask mandates have been lifted and most sensible people have been vaccinated, made all the more humiliating by the example of real, violent Russian assaults of the freedoms and rights of Ukrainians, who are showing true patriotism and courage as they defend their homeland.   

It’s too early to tell, but I am hopeful that the Ukrainian invasion has demonstrated to the American public what a real assault on democracy and freedom looks like, and how similar in intent, if not scale, was the January 6th insurrection.  I am hopeful that workers of every class now recognize their well being does not lie with right wing extremism.  I am hopeful that liberals of every stripe will have learned how to listen to the voices of others.  I am hopeful that more whites will have discovered they need not be threatened by the new found confidence of non-white voices.  I am hopeful that the bellowing voices of hate filled discontent, so long tolerated on social media, will find themselves increasingly on an ignored fringe of little consequence.

It’s a lot to be hopeful for.  America has a history of lurching toward greater justice and opportunity for all.  I am hopeful that we are in one of those lurches.