A Collective Loss of Hope

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Now that is a sobering blog title.  It sounds ominous, somber and depressing.  My intent with this blog has always been to celebrate the agrarian way of life, honoring my God, and reminiscing about ‘antique virtues and values” that seem to be going the way of the dodo bird and the woolly mammoth.  Journaling a collection of my oftentimes rambling and jumbled thoughts has always been therapeutic to me.

I have always striven to avoid the mention of politics in this medium and, although I certainly have opinions, I aim to continue that.  I read an article in the Wall Street Journal a couple of weeks ago that has stuck with me, marinating in my subconsciousness and I’d like to talk about it a little today.  The article, I think, contains a powerful feeling that can be felt by all political stripes, including Democrats, Republicans, Republicrats, Democans, Elephants, Donkeys, and Elephonkeys alike.  The article was written by Peggy Noonan.  I grew up in the 1980’s and remember her as a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan.

The article I’m speaking of is one entitled, “That moment when 2016 hits you” and can be found by clicking this link: The Moment When 2016 Hits You

Here are a few excerpts from the article:

‘I felt a wave of sadness,’ said one friend. This year’s politics have that effect on a lot of Americans.

Another political veteran, my friend John, also had his Moment during the New Hampshire primary. Out door-knocking for Jeb Bush, “I was struck as I walked along a neighborhood using the app that described the voters in each house. So many multigenerational families of odd collections of ages in houses with missing roof shingles or shutters askew or paint peeling. Cars needing repair.”  What was the story inside those houses? Unemployment, he thought, elder care, divorce, custody battles. “It was easy to see a collective loss of hope in a once-thriving town.” He sensed “years of neglect and sadness. Something is brewing.”

Okay, it’s me again.  You see the underlined portion of the verbiage below?  I look around and see the same thing.  Of course there are exceptions to this.  There are plenty of people who have secure jobs, all the trappings of material success, and seem, at least from the outside, to be genuinely happy and optimistic.  But there is a large portion of the populace that feels that their best days are behind them, that the potential of having a better standard of living than the generations before them is out of reach.  Incomes are stagnant if not dropping.  Layoffs have forced people into jobs for which they are overqualified for and underpaid. 

When things break, they don’t get repaired OR people get themselves further into debt.  I researched Americans’ indebtedness and discovered that as of May 2016, the average American household credit card debt is $5,700.  But when you exclude those households that pay their credit cards off in full at the end of each month, the average credit card debt for these households is $16,048!  Here's the supporting link: Americans in Debt

People see no way out.  At Our Maker’s Acres Family Farm, we live in rural America where the major industries are agriculture and the oil patch.  The economic outlook isn’t particularly rosy.  Maybe things are better in your “neck of the woods?”

In a related vein, I read that April 2016 marked the twelfth straight month of record gun sales.  More and more people are taking classes for their concealed handgun license.  I checked Smith & Wesson stock on Google Finance and saw that its stock price has appreciated 556.8% over the past 5 years.  Smith & Wesson Stock Chart

People are scared.  You can feel it.  Fellow citizens medicate themselves to numb their senses to the situations they find themselves in.  We keep ourselves busy as we frenetically rush about at a pace that would rival that of a hummingbird – so busy we don’t pause to think, or enjoy the simple pleasures such as a sunrise or sunset or stars on a crisp fall evening.  We don’t soak in and relish the gentle evening breeze while swinging under the boughs of an oak tree or under the front porch.  Most importantly, we don’t pray to our Creator and request His guidance, His wisdom, His deliverance from our hopelessness, our bondage, or our fears.

Back to Ms. Noonan’s article.  She finished it up like this:

And a sob welled up and I literally put my hands to my face and sobbed, silently, for I suppose a minute.

Because my country is in trouble.

Because I felt anguish at all the estrangements.

Because some things that shouldn’t have changed have changed.

You’ll feel better the next day, I promise, but you won’t be able to tell yourself that this is history as usual anymore. This is big, what we’re living through.

Because too much is being lost.

She is a great writer.  I remember her speech as given by President Ronald Reagan after the Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster back in 1986.  I remember watching it while at college.  I remember in it, the President directly spoke to school children and encouraged the nation, despite the loss, to keep moving forward, advancing.  I remember feeling encouraged even in the midst of great sorrow.  Ms. Noonan’s Wall Street Journal article doesn’t leave me with such encouragement about the future.  Nor does it give a roadmap out.

Yes, our country is in trouble.  Yes, a lot has changed and a lot is being lost.  Yes, I am sad about the predicament that our country is in and the trajectory of our future, and I suppose I mourn about it most because I think our wounds are largely self-inflicted.  But, I’ll tell you this.  All is not lost, and I won’t succumb to fear of the future and I certainly will not lose hope.

On the subject of fear, hopelessness, and despair, my God tells me in Joshua 1:9:

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.  

There is no strong man or strong woman that can save us.  Only God.  We’re not in this alone.  Our hearts should not be troubled.  Families on bended knee, shoulder to shoulder in communities across our land need to repent and humbly fix our eyes upon Him.  It is only then when believers can see healing and restoration.  If we have a “collective loss of hope,” we need to turn to the God of Hope who tells us in Romans 15:13:

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.