The Audacity of Hope

Yes, my friends, I am ready to act on 'the audacity of hope'! To hope that we can all one day have an attitude of collaboration, not divisiveness, with those that are different from us. To hope that one day, all will work together for a dignified life for each human being on this earth, with enough for everybody.

Problem is, in order for everyone to have enough- for there's more than plenty to go around each year in regards to resources- it's far more about the question: are we willing to share? Are we willing to give up a bit of our wealth for the sustainability of another person's life? Are we willing to love by setting up systems so that all people can have access to become more educated, should they desire to do so? In my experience, in my short 26 years of life, I have increasingly grown to believe what the Bible says about generosity: "give and it will be given to you." Those that share are sustained with enough, but is "enough" enough for those of us from the land of plenty?

Yet I will hope that we will share. I hope that one day our brothers and sisters across the world in Iran, in Iraq, in Peru, in the Congo, in Kenya and Chad and Darfur, anywhere where there is need- that we will all be able to love by sharing. That we may be content with "enough", and find ourselves blessed with plenty.

Yesterday I saw "The Kite Runner," and was struck by the young boy's father. He stated that the only sin is theft. He claimed that if you kill someone, not only do you steal a life, you steal the man's wife's right to her husband's life; the children's right to a father. If you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. So, if we turn a passive eye to the world around us, do we not steal the people's right to a dignified and hopeful life? And on the other hand, if we do not ignore it, do we not infuse their future with the opportunity to truly live?