<\/p>\n
I was too young to remember President John F. Kennedy.\u00a0 <\/span>My mother worked on his campaign and Hope may be shot, taken in an instant of murderous Over the summer, mainline Protestant clergy have reported to Churches are in the hope business.\u00a0 <\/span>Yet, even they are struggling to hold on to hope.\u00a0 <\/span>“I feel so alone,” one of my minister-friends Well, one way to overcome fear is to preach healing. \u00a0Because Christians are also in the healing business.\u00a0 <\/span>Actually, the three great monotheistic faiths all teach that For some reason, the White House seems to think that HOPE is Hope is that business of faith communities.\u00a0 <\/span>But it is also the business of <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was too young to remember President John F. Kennedy.\u00a0 My mother worked on his campaign and hauled her baby (me) along with her to pass out literature.\u00a0 She assures me that one of my first words was “k-e-n-d-y.”\u00a0 I was barely four when he was shot.\u00a0 Years later, I asked my mother what was…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,413,14,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christians","category-health-care","category-mainline-protestants","category-religion-in-the-public-square"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nhauled her baby (me) along with her to pass out literature.\u00a0 <\/span>She assures me that one of my first
\nwords was “k-e-n-d-y.”\u00a0 <\/span>I was
\nbarely four when he was shot.\u00a0
\n<\/span>Years later, I asked my mother what was so special about President
\nKennedy.\u00a0 <\/span>Without hesitating, she
\nreplied, “He gave us hope.\u00a0 <\/span>Hope
\nthat things could change.\u00a0 <\/span>We
\nneeded that.”\u00a0 <\/span>She paused and a
\nlook of sadness swept across her face. “And it was taken away.\u00a0 <\/span>Too soon.\u00a0 <\/span>They killed hope.”<\/p>\n
\nviolence.\u00a0 <\/span>But, this summer, we
\nhave witnessed another way of killing hope–vicious rumor, cynical politics,
\nmanipulation, lies, gossip, and fear mongering.\u00a0 <\/span>Hope doesn’t die in an instant.\u00a0 <\/span>Instead, it is has been walking a way of sorrows and put on
\na cross, whipped, laughed at, life slowly beaten away, breath halting, and
\njoints stretched in pain.\u00a0 <\/span>It is a
\ngruesome image, but it needs to be.\u00a0
\n<\/span>Without hope, a people and their civilization cannot survive.\u00a0 <\/span>The Bible teaches that.\u00a0 <\/span>History teaches that.\u00a0 <\/span>To purposefully kill hope is a sin,
\nespecially when its only replacement is fear.\u00a0 <\/span>No society can flourish with fear as its base.<\/p>\n
\nme an increase in fear in their congregations–overt xenophobia and nativism,
\nracist epithets, terrified elderly people thinking their government was about
\nto murder them, threats not to preach on anything related to health and healing
\n(what then, I ask, can clergy possibly preach about if not health?),
\ncongregants stocking up on weapons, and people coming armed to church.\u00a0 <\/span>One such clergyperson (an army vet),
\njoked that he was looking for a clergy supply store that sells Kevlar vestments
\nto wear while celebrating the Lord’s Supper. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nconfided.\u00a0 <\/span>“Just a few months ago,
\nit seemed like we could change the world.\u00a0
\n<\/span>Now, everyone is running for cover.\u00a0 <\/span>People are scared.”\u00a0\u00a0Over and over again, I’ve heard the same refrain: \u00a0What can we do to stop the fear?<\/span><\/p>\n
\nGod’s desire to heal a broken universe is the central point of faith, that shalom–<\/i>peace, healing, surrender, and
\nsalvation–are the very reason for human existence. \u00a0<\/span>In great religious traditions and in lively spirituality, hope
\nand healing are interconnected. \u00a0You can’t have one without the other.<\/p>\n
\na noun.\u00a0 <\/span>Once you put it on a
\nposter, or have millions of people vote for it, then it simply is.\u00a0 <\/span>But hope is not a noun.\u00a0 <\/span>Hope is a verb.\u00a0 <\/span>It is active, ever-living,
\nrestless.\u00a0 <\/span>It needs to be nurtured,
\ntaught, envisioned, shared.\u00a0 <\/span>Hope
\nfor healing; hope for community; hope for global brother- and sisterhood; hope
\nfor transformation; hope for a world where neighbors do unto others; hope for a
\nfuture of grace, mercy, and love.\u00a0 <\/span><\/p>\n
\npolitical leaders.\u00a0 <\/span>And that’s what
\nPresident Obama needs to get back to tonight.\u00a0 <\/span>Sure, he needs to talk about health care and public options,
\ncosts, job creation, and policy points.\u00a0
\n<\/span>More than anything, we need the President to lead back to hope.\u00a0\u00a0You can’t have health without hope. \u00a0<\/span>The fear mongers have had their
\nseason.\u00a0 <\/span>But the hope-killing time
\nis over.\u00a0 <\/span>We who know the active
\npower of hope need to stand up. \u00a0<\/span>It
\nis a time for growing hope again.<\/p>\n