What makes you hopeful? It can be easy to list all of the problems in the world and the reasons for pessimism. There is no shortage of those. Dwelling on them can be overwhelming, though. It is so easy to drown in the problems and lose all sense of hope. On the other hand, an easy optimism is not helpful either. Easy optimism is a sense that there is no need to worry about anything; it will all work itself out somehow. Easy optimism is giving up taking on our own responsibilities to take part in the world around us.
Hope is more robust than optimism. It is looking at the reality of the world and its issues without falling into pessimism. Hope is all too often missing in so many of the conversations I hear. It is not an easy thing to be truly hopeful. Yet hope is also what inspires us to continue on, working to witness to the beauty and good in the world. What is it that gives you hope in this world?
May this year falls entirely within the season of Easter. For us as Christians, Easter is the foundation of our hope. The resurrection is the promise made to us by God that there is reason for hope. It is the promise that in Christ we see the appearance of God’s new and renewed creation in the midst of the old creation of this world. Easter is a call to trust that God is at work around us, bringing life out of death. God is giving hope in situations that seem hopeless. Because of this promise, we are a people of hope. We take on the work of witnessing to God’s love, grace, and renewal in the world around us because we trust the Easter promise of the resurrection. That promise is what inspires us to continue on, not falling into despair and pessimism about the world. It moves us beyond easy optimism, too, because in God’s promise of renewal also comes a call to take part in that renewing work. To be Easter people is to be people of hope who act in following Christ in making manifest God’s work all around us. May we be such people, this May and always.
Rev. Dr. Eric J. Trozzo