The Merit of Hope

Over the weekend, I attended a benefit to raise money for the American Jewish World Service Darfur action campaign. A friend at the benefit questioned my ability to hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. It’s not the first time (nor the last, I imagine) that I have heard this sentiment.

It’s a sad way to think. Hope is the base of great historical change. When combined with action, hope is what propels us forward.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in a South African prison and withstood unimaginable indignities, based on his hope that black South Africans would achieve equality.

Paulo Freire, in writing the Pedagogy of the Oppressed, expressed his hope that disaffected groups of people could unlearn their oppression -- that they could be taught a different way of life. Today, Freire’s work is an integral part of the pedagogy of teachers throughout the world.

Here, in Boston, Dr. Paul Farmer had hope that the poor of the world could receive health care regardless of their ability to pay. His hope and vision became Partners in Health, an organization that is now addressing TB and HIV cases in Haiti, Peru, Rwanda, Lesotho, and Russia.

Historically, when combined with action, hope has proven its worth. Some days, yes, I am incredibly, painfully cynical. But it’s far easier to wallow in cynicism than to be moved to action.