I am somewhere in ch. 9 of listening to this book, but from the first chapters it's been deeply comforting to encounter a work that is exactly where my head is at these days. My appreciation for Brian continues to grow.
On Team Bravery: For years I've been referring to this as choosing to go down fighting. I like redefining victory better. It redirects my energy away from a sense of this as conflict. It doesn't need to be; it's just choosing integrity, even when it's integrity in the face of wrong. Really appreciate your sharing so much of this here.
Brian’s books started us on a wonderful exploration of all things Christian. Now this. Wow. It’s amazing how he weaves a narrative and somehow still gives us hope and a nudge for more love in the midst of not easy answers. It’s comforting and disturbing all at once. I loved all the comments below because I feel the love oozing out of the hearts around me. Thank you all. And Diana you give me so much.Thank you!
When I think about HOPE in big letters, it seems to lead to despair, because even in community, I can't see, for example, slowing down global climate change, particularly while we have major wars going on and an oppressive fossil fuel industry, just to name two of many global factors. But when I think about hope in small letters; thinking about Thich Nhat Hanh and other Buddhist teacher's reminders to do good in the present moment so that the future is better, then I can focus on the things I can do that help me to feel better about myself, and are good for the world...like minimizing my trash and use of fossil fuels, not killing, supporting movements that work for Peace and Justice. I guess we can either be part of the problem or part of the solution...right?
This chapter from Brian McLaren's book says all that can be said about the the lure of both hope and despair to paralyze us into inactivity. And it also speaks beautifully, powerfully and courageously about the third path---the path of being the best lovers of life and the best actors on behalf of life that we can be, at all times, and despite any and all circumstances.
A major lesson from the Shoah was that until Jews believed that the Nazis really did intend to kill them all that they should revolt. Collective punishment was coming irregardless so they were free to act.
The Greta Thunberg quote, “I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic . . . and act as if the house is on fire. Because it is.”, gives a concise picture of the danger hope poses.
A parent hopeful that the climate situation will be at least stable enough to see to it that their children (and perhaps grandchildren) will have a safe pleasant environment in which to live doesn’t go out of their way to make any big changes that would put them at any sort of risk.
If, however, their house is on fire, they will not only immediately abandon any hopeful intellectualizing about the future, but will also be taking drastic measures, even at risk to their own safety, to ensure that all of those they love do not suffer harm.
“Love may or may not provide a way through our predicament, but it will provide a way forward in our predicament, one step into the unknown at a time.” is the perfect summation of the why of Jesus. He sweat blood in the garden over the tension held between there not being “a way through” or, as he put it “another way” other than an excruciating death in order to “provide a way forward” for all of humanity wanted to save.
Is there a way to copy this ie print it out to share.? I have a friend who has a cell phone but it is not a fancy one and she does not have a lap top but she would like to read this article. I was telling her about it at dinner tonight. Thanks
I have always loved Brian's points of view on many troubling issues. He always seems to point out the flip side of every coin, as he does here with hope. I especially loved the opening quote by Percy Walker. A quote worth taking note of. Thank you Diana and looking forward to Friday.
What I appreciate in this chapter of Mclaren's is the same thing I love about The Cottage, about Diana and those other folks like Jim Wallis and Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer who exhort us to think about our circumstances and social difficulties in ways that lead to change within ourselves and subsequently in our world.
I love Miguel de la Torre's work, and am glad we're collectively moving toward a more decolonialized theology of hope--a hope that's not tied as much to outcomes and sunny optimism, a hope that's more robust and less simplistic for these perilous times.
Thank you Diana for arranging this chapter for today's email. Thank you Brian for such a powerful and direct discussion. I read part of this in today's CAC morning reflection as well-- and immediately thought of the chapter entitled, "Hopelessness and Death" in Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart." Just briefly from that work: "If we're willing to give up hope that insecurity and pain can be exterminated, then we can have the courage to relax groundlessness of our situation. This is the first step on the path."
When I first read Pema's chapter I was freaked: I've had several conversations w/ my Zen teacher about how to absorb and understand Chodron's discussion to "totally experience hopelessness." She gave me good points to ponder, but Brian's discussion really brings this idea full circle and presents a wonderful alternative to 'let go of outcomes' (which parallels my Zen teacher's point) and to maintain love in the face of the yin/yang of 'Hope/Despair'--and to fully embrace living in the "insecurity...[and] groundlessness of our situation."
I woke up this morning w/ another sense of that 'hopeless tension' and your posting here has turned that around. Thank you once again...
I have a copy of When Things Fall Apart on my nightstand. There is so much wisdom in this book. Krista Tippett from On Being introduced it to her audience during the dark days of the pandemic. I have returned time and again. Thank you for reminding me of Pema
I love it when I find things that express how I feel better than I can.
I have despaired for the world, but that does not stop me from acting for change. Because I want to be of the good. Because even if the bad of humanity - the greed, the selfishness, the myopia - wins out, I want my life to demonstrate that there was good too. Bravery to act even in despair, kindness because it is needed, a drive for the right even when the outcome will not change. For the sake of the birds and the bees and the lost species. To show that they do mean something, at least to me. It is a moral act. It is an existential act.
Probably I should read this book, but then again, I feel I know it already. Thanks for sharing!
I have always tried to hold on to hope. But it is good to realize that hoping for a better future means we are living in the future rather than the present. May we live and love for today. May we love human beings and this Earth, our mother. I don’t like thinking of doom, but I have to keep my eyes open today and do what is possible today. I have to love today.
Thank you Brian McLaren! This is the best explanation for hope I've read. It truly is complicated and I was feeling guilty because I had feelings of despair, hopelessness, failure. etc., even though all around me there is such a support group of loving people. Ilia Delio reminds us of the concept of entanglement and that every thought, action, utterance is important - it sets the stage for a positive or negative present which leads to the future.
I've ordered this book for myself and some friends. Please keep writing!
I am somewhere in ch. 9 of listening to this book, but from the first chapters it's been deeply comforting to encounter a work that is exactly where my head is at these days. My appreciation for Brian continues to grow.
On Team Bravery: For years I've been referring to this as choosing to go down fighting. I like redefining victory better. It redirects my energy away from a sense of this as conflict. It doesn't need to be; it's just choosing integrity, even when it's integrity in the face of wrong. Really appreciate your sharing so much of this here.
Brian’s books started us on a wonderful exploration of all things Christian. Now this. Wow. It’s amazing how he weaves a narrative and somehow still gives us hope and a nudge for more love in the midst of not easy answers. It’s comforting and disturbing all at once. I loved all the comments below because I feel the love oozing out of the hearts around me. Thank you all. And Diana you give me so much.Thank you!
When I think about HOPE in big letters, it seems to lead to despair, because even in community, I can't see, for example, slowing down global climate change, particularly while we have major wars going on and an oppressive fossil fuel industry, just to name two of many global factors. But when I think about hope in small letters; thinking about Thich Nhat Hanh and other Buddhist teacher's reminders to do good in the present moment so that the future is better, then I can focus on the things I can do that help me to feel better about myself, and are good for the world...like minimizing my trash and use of fossil fuels, not killing, supporting movements that work for Peace and Justice. I guess we can either be part of the problem or part of the solution...right?
This chapter from Brian McLaren's book says all that can be said about the the lure of both hope and despair to paralyze us into inactivity. And it also speaks beautifully, powerfully and courageously about the third path---the path of being the best lovers of life and the best actors on behalf of life that we can be, at all times, and despite any and all circumstances.
A major lesson from the Shoah was that until Jews believed that the Nazis really did intend to kill them all that they should revolt. Collective punishment was coming irregardless so they were free to act.
Arthur Pitz, Ph.D. (History)
The Greta Thunberg quote, “I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic . . . and act as if the house is on fire. Because it is.”, gives a concise picture of the danger hope poses.
A parent hopeful that the climate situation will be at least stable enough to see to it that their children (and perhaps grandchildren) will have a safe pleasant environment in which to live doesn’t go out of their way to make any big changes that would put them at any sort of risk.
If, however, their house is on fire, they will not only immediately abandon any hopeful intellectualizing about the future, but will also be taking drastic measures, even at risk to their own safety, to ensure that all of those they love do not suffer harm.
“Love may or may not provide a way through our predicament, but it will provide a way forward in our predicament, one step into the unknown at a time.” is the perfect summation of the why of Jesus. He sweat blood in the garden over the tension held between there not being “a way through” or, as he put it “another way” other than an excruciating death in order to “provide a way forward” for all of humanity wanted to save.
Is there a way to copy this ie print it out to share.? I have a friend who has a cell phone but it is not a fancy one and she does not have a lap top but she would like to read this article. I was telling her about it at dinner tonight. Thanks
You just print it! Or, copy the text into a Word doc and create a new document.
I have always loved Brian's points of view on many troubling issues. He always seems to point out the flip side of every coin, as he does here with hope. I especially loved the opening quote by Percy Walker. A quote worth taking note of. Thank you Diana and looking forward to Friday.
Thursday is the Zoom.
My mistake! Sorry and thanks!
What I appreciate in this chapter of Mclaren's is the same thing I love about The Cottage, about Diana and those other folks like Jim Wallis and Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer who exhort us to think about our circumstances and social difficulties in ways that lead to change within ourselves and subsequently in our world.
Thank you, John.
Really helpful, thoughtful, and hopeful. And still with the urgency that the moment requires, calling forth courageous and loving hearts and action.
I love Miguel de la Torre's work, and am glad we're collectively moving toward a more decolonialized theology of hope--a hope that's not tied as much to outcomes and sunny optimism, a hope that's more robust and less simplistic for these perilous times.
And if you're looking for a book-length exploration of this kind of hope, have I got a resource for you! lol https://www.maryannmckibbendana.net/thebooks
Thank you Diana for arranging this chapter for today's email. Thank you Brian for such a powerful and direct discussion. I read part of this in today's CAC morning reflection as well-- and immediately thought of the chapter entitled, "Hopelessness and Death" in Pema Chodron's "When Things Fall Apart." Just briefly from that work: "If we're willing to give up hope that insecurity and pain can be exterminated, then we can have the courage to relax groundlessness of our situation. This is the first step on the path."
When I first read Pema's chapter I was freaked: I've had several conversations w/ my Zen teacher about how to absorb and understand Chodron's discussion to "totally experience hopelessness." She gave me good points to ponder, but Brian's discussion really brings this idea full circle and presents a wonderful alternative to 'let go of outcomes' (which parallels my Zen teacher's point) and to maintain love in the face of the yin/yang of 'Hope/Despair'--and to fully embrace living in the "insecurity...[and] groundlessness of our situation."
I woke up this morning w/ another sense of that 'hopeless tension' and your posting here has turned that around. Thank you once again...
I have a copy of When Things Fall Apart on my nightstand. There is so much wisdom in this book. Krista Tippett from On Being introduced it to her audience during the dark days of the pandemic. I have returned time and again. Thank you for reminding me of Pema
I love it when I find things that express how I feel better than I can.
I have despaired for the world, but that does not stop me from acting for change. Because I want to be of the good. Because even if the bad of humanity - the greed, the selfishness, the myopia - wins out, I want my life to demonstrate that there was good too. Bravery to act even in despair, kindness because it is needed, a drive for the right even when the outcome will not change. For the sake of the birds and the bees and the lost species. To show that they do mean something, at least to me. It is a moral act. It is an existential act.
Probably I should read this book, but then again, I feel I know it already. Thanks for sharing!
I have always tried to hold on to hope. But it is good to realize that hoping for a better future means we are living in the future rather than the present. May we live and love for today. May we love human beings and this Earth, our mother. I don’t like thinking of doom, but I have to keep my eyes open today and do what is possible today. I have to love today.
Thank you Brian McLaren! This is the best explanation for hope I've read. It truly is complicated and I was feeling guilty because I had feelings of despair, hopelessness, failure. etc., even though all around me there is such a support group of loving people. Ilia Delio reminds us of the concept of entanglement and that every thought, action, utterance is important - it sets the stage for a positive or negative present which leads to the future.
I've ordered this book for myself and some friends. Please keep writing!