Sunday Meeting: Finding Hope in Times of Despair

The election of Donald Trump has generated an atmosphere of anxiety and fear unprecedented in the history of the modern presidency. And rightly so. The future looks uncertain but dark. However frightening for progressives, it is especially so for vulnerable minorities — Muslims, immigrants, people of color, as well as fellow citizens who receive their health insurance from the Affordable Care Act and are one medical bill away from financial ruin. But think global warming, and we are all imperiled as the fate of the planet ostensibly rests in the hands of Mr. Trump, a climate-change denier.

People are anxious and a sense of despair is understandable. But human beings cannot remain in despair for long, and anxious for even less so. At some point we must reclaim our hope. Speaking for myself, I abjure false hope. I am emotionally averse to Pollyanna-ish assertions of cheeriness when the facts speak otherwise. So my question is, can we find sources for an empirically based hope? I think we can, and I will be examining these sources