hope

as the christmas season is coming to a close, the word "hope" keeps coming up again and again...and I can't help but think that it's a reminder from above.
this year, I'm a lot less melancholic (I usually am around this time of year), but rather...I'm starting to see glimpses of what is possible for me, for my family, and in a sense, for the world.

"Are you jaded?" is a question that I get asked often when I explain what I study...and fair enough, my area of "expertise" is a tad on the depressing side. However, I always answer with a smile, and say "No...I'm not!" and try to shake off the fact that the world can be a very, very, dark place. Funnily enough, this question was posed to me today while a few of us were delivering presents to our sponsor family. As I've been thinking about hope, it wasn't too hard to draw the connections between being "jaded" and being "hopeful".

It certainly doesn't take much to feel like the world is crumbling: people have never been so hungry as they are now, even when resources are abundant; farmers and small enterprises are being oppressed by large corporations; as affluence blooms for the few and abuses many. "Disinformation", probably a term popularized by the Daily Show/Colbert, is being propagated at every street corner...we busy ourselves so much that it's easier to take an "information pill" and swallow it before reading the label. we are so quick to accept what's shown to us...so unwilling to make the effort to learn more and to find good resources.

most troubling of all, we live in a time of cynical lethargy, as I've discussed before. it is a complacency that eats away at our hearts, disconnecting us from each other and from those society views as "deviants"(i.e the poor, immigrants). we're so concerned with the big questions in our lives and the lives of those around us...that we very easily forsake the needs of those we do not personally know. we consistently fall short of the mercy of God...unable to grasp the fullness and wideness of His love for all of us. and sadly, I think that we often willingly desire to fall short of His mercy...

Ahhh...don't you fret...this is the redemptive paragraph...
Despite the darkness of the world, there is a continuing call to hope. when we try and extend our eyesight to the beautiful things in the world, we will see that Christ is indeed born to us this day...and that the hope of seeing Him is present in the work of many. On top of my head, I think of people like Vandana Shiva, a long time activist against seed monopolies, amongst other things. I think of Naomi Klein...who continues to provide a voice of reason in a world of truthiness and corporate spin. Organizations like International Justice Mission, independent media stations like Democracy Now!, and many more continue to brave on to do work that is hardly represented in the mainstream...asking the tough questions, and battling social injustice.
Most importantly, we can see the hope of Christ in the aspirations of those around us. Their desire to serve the world and serve God with their lives; their genuine joy in caring for others; and their dedication to political advocacy all work together to be a beacon of light in this dark world.

And on such a day, as we commemorate Christ's birth, I choose to celebrate the hope that is born in such people...and how that hope can only be one from the Lord above.