Hope

Hope Is A Good Thing, Maybe The Best of Things, and No Good Thing EVER Dies

The above is a quote from a favorite movie of mine, Shawshank Redemption. In the film, a banker named Andy (played by Tim Robbins) has his wonderful, successful life turned upside down. He can’t control the narrative of his future when he is wrongly accused of his wife’s murder and ends up in prison. When Andy arrives and enters the dark halls of the prison for the first time, the movie introduces the viewer to a seasoned inmate named Red (played by Morgan Freeman). Red surmises that, of the multiple prisoner-newbies arriving, Andy will be the one who will emotionally implode on the first night of his new life. 

But Andy doesn’t. Not that night or anytime during his tenure, which was supposed to be a life sentence. He held onto his calm demeanor and used his “tools” to survive the harshness of his new reality. His tools included knowledge and personality that enabled him to get close to the enemy within—the corrupt warden; he persevered with patience as he whittled away with a small tool to carve a hidden pathway through the wall of his cell to escape. He connected with Red, who became a friend. With these tools, he managed and then escaped the unfairness of his reality. He exposed the corrupt prison warden and found his way to a remote beach to work on a boat, where his friend, Red, once released from prison, eventually joined him.

I do love a happy ending when the good guys or gals prevail.

Unfortunately, life is not a film with predictable happy endings. In our reality, we have challenges that change the narrative of our lives, providing many unknowns and causing us to experience a sense of helplessness.

As I write this, we U.S. citizens are one day away from Thanksgiving, when we gather to celebrate our American origins and exude thanks for all our gifts. Yes, there is much to be thankful for: health, home, food, friends, family, and more. We will also start the Christian Advent season this Sunday, starting with the theme of hope.

But –

In this United States of America, 21 days since we elected a new president, many of us are dealing with how we have had life turned upside down, and controlling the narrative of our future seems out of reach. Kamala Harris, who ran for president on the democrat platform, had a to-do list that included a sound economic plan. She wanted women to live if a pregnancy went wrong. She projected a sense of hope for our future. Sadly, she lost the election to he-who-I-will-not name. He had a revenge list, has lied and divided this country unlike anything our recent history has experienced, has a questionable economic plan, and has broken many laws, including trying to sabotage our democracy when he lost the election in 2020. I truly believed hope would prevail over hate. I sobbed along with my 30-year-old daughter at the outcome. I have yelled at the universe and wondered, where are people’s morals? I have questioned how this can be happening. All the analysis of how this happened won’t change the fact that we, our country, are here. 

Where is here? 

I don’t know. 

Is it a new norm of divisiveness with others, an economy that favors the rich, women dying because they can’t have a medical procedure when a pregnancy goes wrong, Christian Nationalism domination, weakened government, and extreme hardship for the marginalized?

Since the election, I have gone from distraught grief to dismayed anger with a recent emergence of calm. Well, most moments, anyway, are calm. It’s still a work in progress. With the calm, I am holding my anxiety parts of myself together and not imploding. Unlike Andy’s first night in a new life, I did implode. But I am beginning to find my “tools” to navigate this different reality. I am staying continually connected to like-minded friends. I am finding ways to use my knowledge and personality to find resources to do what I can do when I can do it. I realize that patience is required as we whittle away at the wall of divisiveness this country will endure and the challenging pathway we must navigate. There will be wrongs to right, and I am committed to doing what I can in my small corner of the world. I will manage this new reality as best I can with the aspiration we will arrive at a place where we can be filled with hope for a better future.

Although these next years will not be easy, this country has persevered with many ebbs and flows of wrongs and rights throughout its history. Most people have aspired and will aspire to the greater good. I don’t particularly like that we are living in history-making times. But here we are. When tough times have historically challenged us, people like you and me have made a difference. Some stories will be remembered in history books, and others will be appreciated by people affected by how we acted towards and for them. We, the people, will keep hope alive because it is a good thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies.

Carol Injaychock

11/27/2024