Where do we go from here?...

I’ve avoided starting this blog. To be honest, Voicing Hope is one of the last things on my list of things to do right now. Not because I don’t have a vision for it, but because I do, AND I’m not really sure I’m up to the task.

The roller coaster and whiplash of watching the very foundations of democracy in the United States being threatened on a daily basis has me exhausted and discouraged most days. The headlines and articles about this right being taken away, that important medical research being halted, and our very existence as the free country I’ve always loved under existential threat is almost more than I can bear lately. I swear under my breath more than I ever have. I see patterns emerging that are impossible for me to miss (hello, ADHD brain), and I am absolutely flabbergasted that so many of my friends and loved ones are in either a state of denial due to their inability to keep up, or complete blindness to the inherent dangers we face. Even worse is seeing those who are cheering on the destruction while believing God has ordained all of it. I can’t help but think this is but a tiny fraction of the emotion Jesus felt when he cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing…”

I don’t think I’m alone when I acknowledge that my body is keeping the score. My brain is bearing the brunt of the assault, and my thoughts are anything but pure as I see the extent of the evil being unleashed in the name of a fake christianity that worships power and empire.

Sigh. I’m not being very hopeful, am I?

It’s been over a year since I first heard the words Voicing Hope as I prayed for direction. The first thing I did is buy voicinghope.com. Next I created a graphic for a podcast. Then, nothing.

Okay, not really nothing. For the next year and half I questioned God. “What did you really mean for me to do with this Voicing Hope idea?” “Are you sure I’m the one to do this?” “I feel hopeless today. There’s no way I can be a torch bearer for anything hopeful right now.” “Hey God, I really just don’t want to do this - can you give it to someone else?” “Please?”

God must have chuckled as he clapped back with “so you think you’re Moses now? - I’m not asking you to lead an entire people group out of bondage - but I am asking you to take the next step to bring some hope to whoever is available to listen…”

Yeah. My prayer life is like that.

So here we are.

A blog. A podcast. An extension of my Voicing Your Brand persona attempting to be a light.

And do you know what? I still am struggling to find hope. And that’s why I’m here, showing up… because I am keenly aware that you may be feeling this way too.

So let’s do this together, shall we? If we can share our slivers of hope together, then perhaps we can build something that has some grit and maybe even impact.

History reminds us that hope is not some feathery flowery light-hearted presence. Hope is gritty. Hope is tough. Hope bears deep scars of resistance and still comes up fighting to preserve the light. As writer Anne Lamott has said “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come." Do the right thing. Be a light. Dawn will come.

But how long does that darkness have to last, anyway? (Asking for a friend.)

Hope begins in the dark. Like lighting a candle. Like flipping a light switch.

And that is what (I think) Voicing Hope will do.

I welcome your stories, your triumphs, your revelations that hope does indeed show up in times like these. (Guest writers are hoped for and encouraged.)

So let’s tell those stories together. And together, let’s shine a very bright light into this present darkness.

Are you in?