November 2020

This November message is about the renewal of hope in hard times.  I was raised to be tenacious about holding hope in my heart and to actually be faithful in knowing that hope is present, even when it isn’t so much in evidence.  I was raised to look for truth and light whenever I might face a challenge—whether large or small—and to be ready with candles in hand to bring light, if I can, or to help others to do so.  I was raised, not simply to just stand around being afraid of darkness, but to act for justice and righteousness regardless of the dark.  The questions that I was encouraged to ask myself were basic:  Whose story is this?  What is really going on here?  What’s the worst thing that can happen?  What’s the best thing that can happen?  What can we do in the meantime?  What is the next step?  Who is in a position to take it? With whom can we join hands for the work that matters? What, ultimately, is the goal, the prize, the thing(s) that can make a difference?  Who benefits?  Who doesn’t?  How do we mediate the space between the two?  I learned to reflect on such questions and to commit to ways of seeing, being, and doing with honor and with respect.  Chief among these values, principles, and practices is a two-fold vow:  1) to be confident, given the things that I choose to do, that I am acting based on my own ethical compass, and 2) to be accountable to myself (and others) in determining that in whatever I do, I do my very best—not sometimes, but ALL the time.  What I know is that I am not alone in holding such beliefs and commitments.
 
In 2020, though, such efforts to live a well-deliberated and meaningful life have been pushed to the very edge of sanity.  We find ourselves surrounded by devastating disease, an economic system that is falling apart, growing numbers of people in jeopardy and in pain, an environment that is both physically and spiritually toxic, a lack of high quality and ethical leadership, and a world of politics that is deeply fraught with danger.  The challenges are just unbelievable, BUT I return to basic touchstones.  There is indeed hope.  It lies in us.  While there are no magic wands to just make things better, IF we are willing, we can act for ourselves, our families, our communities, our nation, our world.  We can continue to do the hard work of bringing balance, fomenting peace, and crafting a prosperity that is sustainable—for both ourselves and others who are like and un-like ourselves.  This message, again, is about the renewal of hope.  We got this! 
 
As we enter yet another season in our nation of official thanksgiving, what I am most thankful for is knowing that I am not alone.  There are others who hope, as I do, for peace, justice, and prosperity—for all, not just for some.  Millions upon millions of our fellow citizens, the largest number ever, have declared their hope, faith, and expectations for the values that form the bedrock of our nation—truth, justice, equality, and, yes, the right to vote and to have those votes counted.  I am thankful.  With this Thanksgiving Day, however, all of us should be more than thankful.  We are obligated to find ways to live up to these values and to do the very hard work—as a nation grounded in its diversity—of bringing these values to life.  We must truly imagine in multi-dimensional ways and in the fullness of living color what a nation like ours needs to look like and be like—where difference not just sameness matters, where people and the grace of human regard not just power and privilege matter.  We need to figure out in dynamic terms how we live our values:  freedom, justice, equality—for all.  We need to figure out how we will be vigilant in making it so and keeping it that way. 
 
Despite the darkness at this moment that still surrounds us, I am hopeful that we will get farther along than we have ever gone in making our nation better, more perfect—in actually bringing to life the land of our imagination, our hopes, our dreams.  The good news is that, I know/we know—for sure—that we are not alone and can join hands with others to get to work.
 
Ever onward,

Jackie Royster