I take hope in every politician’s or economist’s statement that Americans aren’t buying enough; in every student’s reference to “sustainability” or “mindfulness”—terms that weren’t in my college vocabulary… I take hope from the growing number of solitaries and the growing interest in meditation, contemplation, centering prayer. I have faith in the capacity of truth, if brought to light and given time, to win its cause, the capacity of love to win its cause. I place little hope in conventional politics, so invested are mainstream political parties in endless, unsustainable growth, or in conventional religion, with its interest in perpetuating its power. Instead I find hope in love, for one another, for our earth. Those of us invested in love can choose, must choose noncooperation. I buy less; I consume less; I take myself off the grid in the face of efforts to force me to remain on it; I dedicate myself to friendship as my organizing, bedrock relationship; I study and talk about how to become, in fact, a society of friends.
— Fenton Johnson, At the Center of All Beauty: Solitude and the Creative Life (W. W. Norton & Company, March 10, 2020)
Portrait: Source
I do too – have faith, that is…But I falter. I falter when another life is senselessly taken, I falter when a swastika is painted on as a tattoo…I falter when I see the inherent values of democratic process threatened/. And I am renewed – by the sound of laughter, the birds gossiping outside by their feeder. I’m renewed when the sun wins a game of hide-and-seek with the clouds, when you write of the loons…
Beautifully captured. Exactly how I feel. Thank you.
Humanity missed the right exit a while ago, won’t stop and ask for directions. Won’t stop, because it doesn’t know how to stop.
I’m fully behind this Mr. Fenton Johnson.
Won’t stop. Doesn’t know how to stop. That’s it. Beautifully capturing the darkness.
Beautifully capturing the darkness! Contradiction in terms at its best.
“I take hope” and then to name those elements which engender the hope.
I take hope humankind loves more than it fears.
I take hope we recognize that at the heart of every human being on this planet is the magnificence of our humanity. The Divine essence that makes us One.
And I have faith that Love will win its cause.
Thank you for this morning ray of sunshine David. I take hope in this morning and choose Love.
We all need your faith Louise. Thank you. Keep pulling us from the front.
Thank you David — and… once again, you inspired me this morning – https://dareboldly.com/2020/06/14/love-will-always-find-you/
So glad to be an inspiration. Thanks Louise. Loved your post.
[…] Thoughts of hope drifted into my mind this morning as I read the quote by Fenton Johnson that David Kanigan shares on his blog, Live & Learn. […]
I am ever hopeful for a renewed sense of what’s important, what’s compassionate, what’s real
Me too Beth.
So timely, so timeless. Thank you. I am pushed to think, question, and reflect – there is much to learn and teach.
It is Lee. I had the same reaction…
I think WordPress is in a way, a Society of Friends…
The new world community. Great observation Jim.
I’m not one to cite the bible too often, but we all know that somewhere it says: Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (Corinthians)
As a great L. Cohen fan, I also often take great delight in some bits of his darker (are there any light ones?) songs: There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. In my world, the light always creeps in, sometimes truly only through a crack, sometimes through a wide open window.
All of this is very inspiring and a ‘true Sunday’ post!
ah Yes, the famous line from Cohen’s tune. Love it.