Presence in times of turmoil: Radical Hope

It seems that we are living in times when nothing settles down. The stock market goes up and down; the political discourse goes from bad to worse; Arab spring turns in Syria into massacres; banks fail and make more money; the rich get richer; money buys democracy; friends get sick and die; relationships fail; jobs disappear; for many religions can no longer hold. How do we live in the midst of such turmoil; how do we find hope when it seems like the planet is dying.

Presence is like the eye at the center of the storm, a quiet stillness that mysteriously nourishes and offers hope in the face of fear, despair and helplessness. This is not the kind of hope that clings to things working out. Or the hope that comes from naive fantasy. Rather it is a radical hope that knows that presence is afoot in our lives, in our communities, nations even when we don't know it and we don't believe hope is possible. Presence cannot be destroyed. It is the "isness" of existence, the "beingness" of all of this life, this reality. It is the wild irrational that always says "yes". Always more, even in the face of defeat. It is patient, undying, faithful, goodness. This is radical hope.

By practicing presence we begin to align ourselves with the deeper, undying truths of existence; with unreasonable hope, unreasonable love, unreasonable goodness. In times of great fear, great despair we are all called, those of us who are fortunate enough to be open, to practice presence, to re-enter the life stream of the living now. This act of practicing is an alignment with radical hope.