{"id":342,"date":"2013-04-25T15:09:07","date_gmt":"2013-04-25T15:09:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onfire\/?p=342"},"modified":"2013-04-29T12:45:47","modified_gmt":"2013-04-29T12:45:47","slug":"committed-to-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onfire\/2013\/04\/25\/committed-to-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Committed to Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A<\/a>
A new vision<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I made an illegal U-turn. Shortly thereafter a cop pulled up behind me and turned on his flashing lights.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw what I did as I was doing it,\u201d I told him, owning up to my error before he accused me.<\/p>\n

The policeman was inquisitive. Along with the usual, \u201cDo you still live at so and so address,\u201d he wanted to know where I worked. I told him I was a self-employed writer. \u201cGood for you,\u201d he intoned and then wanted to know what I wrote about. \u201cI help people see their gifts and use them,\u201d I replied as briefly as I could, hoping for an end to the questions.<\/p>\n

He said he liked my topic and the fact I was doing something positive with my life. When it came to people, however, he admitted he was \u201ca cynic. All day long I deal with either trouble-makers or mindless sheep!\u201d he exclaimed.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t know what to say. Dark thoughts flooded my mind. Does this cop know something I don\u2019t\u2014that we\u2019ve gone bad? Our towns and states and nation are going down the tubes? People have given up their dreams? Is it true what the media seems to peddle\u2014the whole world is going to hell in a handbasket? Have we given up?<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i>Then another thought. Stronger: No, we haven\u2019t given up. Not at all. It\u2019s against our nature, our very human-ness to give up. Never!<\/i><\/p>\n

We are forming a new vision of the future. We are dreaming a dream bigger than freedom and well being for the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts.<\/p>\n

Now our dream encompasses the whole planet. All<\/i> people having the opportunity to thrive. All<\/i> races and religions living in respect for one another.<\/p>\n

I\u2014finally\u2014drove away with a traffic summons and a renewed message. I need to remind people that our dreams haven\u2019t been destroyed\u2014they are re-forming, expanding. What seems like chaos and failure right now is really the in-between time of a new, bigger vision being born. <\/i><\/p>\n

I edged carefully into the flow of traffic and recalled the words of a dreamer:<\/p>\n

What this country needs more than anything else, more than ANYTHING else, is a rebirth of vision and a rebirth of dreams. We\u2019ve got to believe in the future because we\u2019re old as a nation, as a people. We are old as individuals when our memories are more important to us than our dreams.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u2026I\u2019m here to give you the good news: What you have been is not as important as what you choose to become. …For we are more molded by the future than the past. That\u2019s what makes us superior to animals. Animals are Pavlovian. They\u2019re molded by the past. But humans are able to imagine and dream about the future.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Dr. Anthony Campolo in his \u201cCommitted to Hope\u201d<\/a> speech May 16, 2010<\/p>\n

– – – – –<\/p>\n

photo credit: Oleg Dulin<\/a> (creative commons)<\/p>\n

– – – – –<\/p>\n

Thank you for visiting my blog. I appreciate your comments and feedback (Email: Gloria@gloriarose.com<\/a>). Let\u2019s connect:<\/p>\n

Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n

Twitter<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

LinkedIn<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Google+<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I made an illegal U-turn. Shortly thereafter a cop pulled up behind me and turned on his flashing lights. \u201cI saw what I did as I was doing it,\u201d I told him, owning up to my error before he accused me. The policeman was inquisitive. 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