I’ve talked to folks who say they can’t tune into the news right now; it’s too painful. Others are in constant grief, riveted to their screens. It begs the question: how do we keep going when everything falls apart? How do we stay present and not shut down or make ourselves sick with fear and grief?
The world is seeing the highest number of conflicts since World War II. Thirty-five years of advances in global democracy have been wiped out. For the first time in two decades, we have more closed autocracies than liberal democracies. U.S. democracy hangs in the balance. Adding to all of this, our faith is being abused. Religion is being weaponized in service of these trends. It’s a lot, especially for those most impacted, who might be targeted because of their race or religion.
Developing the discipline of looking for the glimmers of hope is critical to moving us forward.
I love that fall and winter rituals remind us to give thanks and look for glimmers of light even when things look bleak. The media will focus on what’s broken. We must, therefore, develop the discipline of focusing on evidence of hope to keep our justice movements strong.
I offer two recent examples of what can happen when people unite to overcome impossible odds.
The people of Poland just organized a massive voter turnout to oust a xenophobic nationalist party that had rigged the system to stay in power.
First, the people of Poland just organized a massive voter turnout to oust a xenophobic nationalist party. Just weeks ago, an unprecedented 70 percent of the country turned out to defeat the Law and Justice Party (PiS), which has exploited power since 2015 by controlling the media and rigging the system against voters. An even better predictor of Poland’s future: the youth vote rose from 46 percent in 2019 to 68 percent. Even though the government altered election laws and spread disinformation in the form of altered military documents, the people rallied around a message of unity and ending polarization and around the opposition's promise to end Poland’s harsh abortion restrictions. This win was critical to strengthening the European Union’s commitment to democracy building.
People all over the world are coordinating to preserve democracy. Recently, I gathered with democracy advocates from Europe and the U.S. The conference opened up with a case study of preventing an autocratic takeover: the 2020 presidential election in the United States.
As the leader of the nation’s largest democracy-focused multi-faith leadership organization, I was directly involved in this organizing effort. But to relive these moments was surreal (THAT happened?!) and inspirational.
In 2020, while business and government leaders remained in denial, a small group of seasoned leaders began organizing to ensure the will of voters would win the day.
In 2020, while business and government leaders remained in denial that Trump would carry out his threats, a small group of seasoned leaders took him at his word and began drafting a plan to ensure the will of voters would win the day. They assembled a broad, bi-partisan coalition of hundreds of organizations, including political and business leaders across the political spectrum, to coordinate a response. The stunning backstory is worth a read.
I vividly remember a moment when our coalition could have succumbed to the hopelessness of a seemingly inevitable autocratic victory, spreading our doubt throughout our mutual networks. Although we had been trained to stay on our “Count Every Vote” message even when Trump declared victory, we faltered when he did so.
I remember exactly what I felt that morning. In the fog of war, I felt myself being pulled under, not trusting our strategy. What would I tell my staff and our network?
A brilliant coalition strategist, Mike Podhorzer, spoke to hundreds of us on a glum Zoom call that morning. He read us the riot act, saying, "We told you what would happen. It’s happening. There are no surprises here. Everything is going down exactly as we predicted, so stick to the X*!@$ plan.” He went over the mail-in ballot vote count again to further reassure us.
The cloud lifted. We all chuckled at the autocrat’s lie and Mike’s truth that broke through it.
We were not to speak to or focus on Trump’s false claims. Instead, we stayed calmly and firmly on OUR message: “Count Every Vote.” For religious communities: Every Vote Is Sacred.
Trump wanted us to spill into the streets, outraged to make a clash of protesters. We were not to give him that opportunity. Instead, we waited until the weekend when the ballots would be fully counted, a Biden win announced, planning Voters Decided victory celebrations nationwide in anticipation of a Biden win. We stuck to the truth rather than feed the lie.
And what a celebration it was. Given the COVID situation, I went downtown for the first time in a long time. Muriel Bowser was speaking before a jumbotron when the CNN ticker behind her read: BIDEN WINS. The crowd roared, and Bowser thought maybe she’d delivered a perfect line. Then she turned and saw it. Strangers hugged one another and shouted for joy. As I drove home, people held signs along Connecticut Avenue. I honked my horn with others all the way home. Remember that moment? Even just reliving this precise moment has given me hope this morning.
I will never forget the power of Trump’s narrative to shake us and make us forget our training. I’ll also never forget how easy it was to push forward our reality– the actual reality– after we had gathered in solidarity to name our truth and step forward in faith.
In some ways, I am conveying a political strategy here. But it’s a strategy that resonates with our faith and with Scripture. As I wrote in Who Stole My Bible, scripture is a handbook for resisting tyranny. How often did our spiritual ancestors step forward in faith, not knowing what lay ahead, taking on the impossible at God’s behest? Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, of things not yet seen.
Hope isn’t about being sure that everything will work out. It’s about acting on your convictions even when unsure of the outcome.
Hope is a commitment, a spiritual discipline. It is the determination to work toward a vision of justice, knowing you MAY NOT see it in your lifetime. In some ways, that’s freeing. We can let go of the outcome and focus on what is ours to do.
May you find energy and hope today and every day by taking a moment to remember the lights in your own life, in history, in the advocacy networks you have joined, and in scripture. Seek those out and hold fast to them so that the violence of this world does not overtake you.
Inspirational Reading:
Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities, by Rebecca Solnit
All the Light you Cannot See, a novel by Anthony Doerr