Keeping Hope Alive in Hard Times

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Let us be enraged about injustice, but let us not be destroyed by it. - Bayard Rustin

Lord, let us channel our rage into productive conversations and actions for justice and goodness.

– Prayer of the Day - Sojourners, Verse and Voice, June 14, 2024, https://sojo.net/daily-wisdom/verse-and-voice-61424.

From Praying for Change: Daily Prayers for Anti-Racism from Discipleship Ministries

The week of July 1 started out somberly for many Americans. Still mulling over the implications of President Joe Biden's poor debate performance against former president Donald Trump, we were hit with a Supreme Court decision that violates the most sacred principle of American democracy, that no one is above the law. Now the Supreme Court has granted a sitting president immunity from prosecution for "official acts," a U.S. president while in office can act much like a monarch or a tyrant if their actions can be construed as within the bounds of their constitutional authority.

Thus, it's a hard time for many Americans to feel much hope for our nation's future. It's right to be concerned that the principles of a democratic republic for which so many have fought and died are being abused and forsaken. We have an imperative now to exercise our duty as citizens to vote into office leaders who will restore the ideal of equality under the law.

In the meantime, what's a Christian to do in such distressing circumstances? Impatient as we are with current events, one of the ways I and others have found to sustain us spiritually right now is to return to the wisdom of scripture.

For example, I participate six days week in a prayer group livestreamed on St. Stephen UMC's Facebook page. We gather virtually at 9 a.m. Monday through Saturday to recite a liturgy from the Northumbria Community, a monastic community physically based in northeastern England, but dispersed around the world in a network of Christians who practice what they call "a monasticism of the heart." Northumbrians follow the Daily Office, a set of fixed-hour prayers that is a longstanding Christian tradition. The liturgy never varies but the scriptures and meditations change. Liturgical repetition can be boring yet it proves reassuring.

During June, the Northumbria Community's choice of scripture brought both enlightenment and reassurance. An example from June 10 (excuse the non-inclusive language):

"Psalm 52: Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God? Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit. You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah. You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue! Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah. The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying, “Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!” But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever. I will praise you (God) forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints."

And another from June 19:

"Psalm 1: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish."

These psalms tell us two things. First, ours is not the first era (nor probably the last) to be manipulated by unscrupulous people. Second, endurance for hard times comes from faithfulness to God shown in the examples of saints past and present.

There's a tale from Jewish folklore of which I'm especially fond. It's the legend of the "gam ze yaavor" (גם זה יעבור in Hebrew). In one version, King Solomon commands a jeweler to devise an ornament that will make a sad man happy and a happy man sad. After much toil, the jeweler gives the king a simple ring on which are engraved the words, "This too shall pass."

I often wear a black enamel ring on which "This too shall pass" is etched. I cling to this promise now as we face a time when our social, political, economic and environmental systems are breaking down. I need the reminder of this adage every day, sometimes every hour or even every few minutes, so that I don't fall prey to fear and despair, and that I find the energy and perseverance to act.

It's not "Methodist-pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by" to assert that God is with us in all circumstances. Our challenge is remaining alert to the endless signs of God's wonder, goodness, and strength even as we rage, weep or mourn. We need spiritual sustenance to strengthen our witness to love and justice.

If we are to transcend our current circumstances, we must have body, mind and spirit engaged, and we do that best through our senses. We can watch stunning sunrises and sunsets to marvel at God's creation. We can look for rainbows to come after storms. We can hear birds chirp in the trees; we can hear the rustle of small animals foraging for food. We can delight in the laughter of our children.

The most hopeful sign of God's presence comes in the kindness we can show one another. We saw this miracle at the United Methodist General Conference, for only through the presence of God's Holy Spirit could there have been such civility and cordiality, such collaboration and cooperation, in a deeply polarized church.

This same spirit can be transmitted in our deeply polarized nation. When confronted by oppression and corruption, we have options. We can be selfish in our dealings, or we can choose service to others above self-aggrandizement. We can follow those whose morals and ethics are questionable, or we can choose to do right no matter the consequences. 

Moreover, we can be resolute in our conviction that Jesus, the Christ, showed us that love forms the foundation of life. This is why we follow Jesus, who said he came so that we may have life in abundance.

No, the coming days won't be easy. Evil forces prowl, and we fear certain outcomes. If we act with kindness and generosity, courage and reasonableness, we may find ourselves vulnerable to the malicious spirit of the age. We must be "wise as serpents yet innocent as doves" as Jesus said in Matthew 10:16.

But we need not despair. We can live in hope, responding to whatever comes with assurance and commitment that when all seems lost, God is with us; we are not alone. And we have one another in the bond of our baptism. Let's lift up our hearts and equip ourselves with hope and love in the face of tyranny and hatred. Our time for witness is now.

Veteran religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 as a media channel to amplify the voices of marginalized and under-served United Methodists. She has reported on The United Methodist Church at all levels since 1988. She is also a professional spiritual director and a life member of The Order of Saint Luke, an ecumenical monastic association devoted to liturgical scholarship and sacramental living.