It is understandable if you feel without hope about our nation’s future sometimes. Armed troops trained not in policing the home front but in killing America’s enemies have been sent by the president to patrol the streets of several liberal cities. Universities are punished for disagreeing with the president. Even the Smithsonian is now censored if it records history in a way in which the president disapproves.
If you are understandably discouraged right now, do what it takes to rest and heal. But also know this: When the time for ethical action arises, there is greatness deep within you that will emerge if you will let it.
How do I know this? I am thinking of my own role models for activism. Gandhi and Martin Luther King were shot down without pity, but not before they illumined this world with a peace that could not be shaken by hate or tyranny. How can we call these people role models if we wither when placed into the same situations they conquered?
So, think for a moment about your own role models for courage and justice. If they had lived in comfortable times we might never have heard of any of them:
Malala Yousafzai has inspired countless women to blossom into fulness even after she was shot in the face in an attempt to silence her. She found an inextinguishable life and joy in the midst of such deadly threats. If the time comes, we can, too.
The joy and peace of Thich Nhat Hanh were not developed in a pleasant retreat center. They emerged out of the horrors of the Viet Nam War. When you consider his peaceful smile, do not forget it was born like a phoenix out of unspeakable violence. If necessary, we can find peace in hard times, too.
The compassion of Arch Bishop Romero did not emerge from a quiet monastery but out of death squads of El Salvador. We’re all going to die, the only question is whether we will die of something or for something.
If any of these examples are people you have looked up to, there must be a spark within you of that same courage, peace and joy that is deeper than the storms we will be passing through. If our role models could find peace and joy in horrific times, so can we.
If you have loved the great souls of humankind, you must have some measure of that same greatness within you or you could not recognize it in others. Do what you need to do to get through the initial shock of what looks like a national crisis, but if the time for ethical greatness comes, remember this as well: You can do this.