Glimmers of Hope

We are in a profoundly toxic public moment. But I will remind us that down on the ground, there is far more hope and light than you’d think from watching your preferred media. I’d suggest we let our children and teachers remind us again of who we are. 

Transcript

Glimmers of Hope

Sometimes. I stand back and think of how strange this moment is. We had a car sale on the lawn of the White House. People are screaming at their representatives at town hall meetings. A man who said he could make the government run better got on a stage with a chainsaw to encourage us somehow. 

 I have abandoned arguing on Facebook with anyone. Well occasionally I get sucked inlike we all do, but it seems as though we cannot decide who the real adults are. Adults are not acquitting themselves too well at the present moment. I am looking for hope these days, glimmers of light on the horizon. Sometimes you can’t find it in our public national life. But if you know where to look, you’d be surprised what you can find.

Last night we had the honor of attending the Bob Finley awards program for the Hoover School system here in Alabama. Coach Finley was an outstanding football coach but also renowned for teaching integrity, character, working together and compassion to his students. He died at the untimely age of 56 many years ago, but his family continues to provide what is a most extraordinary event each year. It recognizes children who exemplify character and qualities of positive leadership in their schools. My granddaughter, a fifth grader, received one of these awards and we were thrilled to be a part of this. 

One student in every grade of every elementary and middle school in this large school system is selected by the teachers and faculty. Many high school students are selected based on the evidence of caring, compassion, character and leadership. It is an inspiring event and one graduating senior from each of the two high schools and a teacher from the system are honored and give speeches. 

I am delighted to tell you that down here on the ground, it seems to me that the future will be fine. This is Alabama and we have problems galore and are last in the country in so many indicators, but there are stories of promise everywhere you look.

We are going through a turbulent and terrible moment. Our national leadership is caustic, filled with oppositional defiance, and most of all a culture of disrespect in every direction. While President Trump is the most egregious of these leaders, he is not the only one. For decades now the two political parties have engaged in re-enacting an uncivil war as dark money has grown vast and handfuls of vastly rich people deepen the chasm.

Down here on the ground, however, you would think you were in an alternative universe. The young students in their speeches talked of caring and kindness, praised the inspiration of their teachers and love for their friends. They were lauded as being examples the kindness and standing up for those who were bullied, overlooked, or left out. They were praised for doing what was right when it was not convenient or easy. Those who recommended their selection were shown on screen to the large audience of family, friends and, I might add, proud grandparents. Over and over, they talked about their positive attitudes, their service to others, leadership, accomplishment, yet with humble spirits and empathy for the others around them.  

The two winners both talked about public service and their faith and how it animates them. They were both all-everything. One is going into political science with an eye toward law school. The other will major in accounting with a minor in political science. I was inspired. It said to me that young people are not disillusioned as we older people seem to be these days, and it bodes well for what is yet ahead if we can quit our collective stupidity. 

Yesterday morning a fellow church member bumped into my wife out shopping. She was distressed about a woman she saw crying outside the DMV. The woman didn’t have enough to pay for an uber ride home. Our friend gave her $20, and a DMV staffer came and stood with the elderly woman until her ride came. She asked my wife to help her class find a way to give and help others.

The strength of America, the soul of America is and always has been the American people themselves. You don’t fix a country with a political party or a leader. They can help, but politicians are, well, they’re always looking for a parade to get in front of. We’re the parade.   

Great leadership taps that and pulls us into a common vision--not one of acrimony and bitterness and conflict but of common purpose and common hopes. Our partisanship has in our public conversation turned us into enemies rather than fellow citizens. The lack of expressed compassion and mutual understanding by so-called adults is extraordinary. And so, the result is increasing bitterness, acrimony and accusation. Once we do not trust each other we cannot work together. Trust wants destroyed is very difficult to rebuild.

Maybe the courage to be who we truly are is the greatest courage of all. In the press and temptations of anxiety and reaction it is easy to forsake our essential identity 

Last Sunday was youth Sunday at our church. Four of our young people in high school spoke for the sermon and got rave reviews. I told some friends at breakfast this week and maybe the greatest statement that a church can make is we raise really good children. Empathy and kindness and respect are not dead it's just that you won't find them on the web or social media or cable news or in Washington at the present moment for that matter. There is a reason why Jesus said that we would be judged for every word we utter. Good morning words matter but so do actions. Autocratic leaders and societies of the past have never been about compassion and empathy and kindness which they see as weaknesses. They are about control and domination and fear and if necessary, cruelty.

Democracies at their best are strong enough to trust decency, integrity, mercy and kindness.

We are in a profoundly toxic public moment. But I will remind us that down on the ground, there is far more hope and light than you’d think from watching your preferred media. I’d suggest we let our children and teachers remind us again of who we are. I know I walked out into the cold night air with a little more hope. We’ll debate, even bitterly, but maybe if we thought of our fellow Americans like school classmates instead of the minions of evil, we could have a chance.