I read these words last week. They were blogged by Sarah Bessey at sarahbessey.com. Her words leaped off the screen and have been in my thoughts all week.
At first glance, these words do not image hope as a lit candle. Yet hope is about seeking light. It is not an image of that time before dawn, with the sun about to rise again. Yet it is about waiting. It is not about smiling and putting on a brave but false front. It seems impossible to simultaneously pretend all is fine and admit all is not as it should be.
Everything in life is often not okay. When we hope, we are admitting that things are not okay. When we hope, we believe that a different future is possible. Even when we cannot see exactly what that future is, hope gives us the courage, and the agency, to live into what is possible.
I find that it is not easy to be hopeful. In painful moments, I tend towards abandoning all hope, rather than staring pain straight in the face and admitting that everything is not as it should be.
Today we remember the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King spoke eloquently about hope. He spoke of his Dream, of what could be possible. He also struggled with the harsh realities. He shared in a poignant sermon how his dream had turned to a nightmare, how life was a series of shattered dreams. His hope was subversive because he dared to admit that all was not as it should be.
Walter Brueggeman wrote in The Prophetic Imagination, "Only if we have tasted despair, only if we have known the deep sadness of unfulfilled dreams and promises, only if we can dare to look reality in the face and name it for what it is, can we dare to begin to imagine a better way."
Such is the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Well said. Memorable. Thanks.
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