A summer rain storm blew through last night. I worried that our almost blooming hydrangeas might be spoiled … but no … they’re hanging tough. I snapped the photo above just after my morning walk. Love that one open bloom, washed clean, and all the others, promising a real show.
It seems a fitting illustration of where I am with Hope right now.
Last week (when I had a few minutes to think about it 😉 ) I’d planned to write about Both-And Thinking. It’s a concept that I learned from Richard Rohr and became especially interested in when I listened to his interview with Krista Tippett on On Being back in March (the podcast is from 2017 and coincidentally just re-released a few weeks back). I’m convinced this type of thinking is key to cultivating hope (and a lot of other things that I look forward to exploring and experiencing in my second half of life).
Yesterday, I started to clue in to a Big Thing on Ravelry. It started in my Instagram feed … pretty much all the knitting/yarn/fiber folks I follow have posted about “standing with Ravelry” about their new policy
I’m still not sure what straw broke the camel’s back, but I am 100%+ behind the strong action Ravelry has taken. I shared my own #istandwithravelry post this afternoon. and I am so very proud to stand with them now. I am better than all of this. WE are better than all of this. Rohr says it all way better than I can (see Falling Upward, p.147)
[Dualistic thinking] is the basic reason why the “stinking thinking” of racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, religious imperialism, and prejudice of all kinds is so hard to overcome and has lasted so long — even among nice people! … here is the normal sequencing of the dualistic mind: it compares, it completes, it conflicts, it conspires, it condemns, it cancels out any contrary evidence, and it then crucifies with impunity. You can call it the seven C’s of delusion, and the source of most violence, which is invariably sacralized as good and necessary to “make the world safe for democracy” or to “save souls for heaven.”
And then this morning, I watched the video with Thomas Keating that accompanied yesterday’s lesson on Centering Prayer. Fr. Thomas talks about the theological virtues (faith, hope and charity) and gives Hope a whole new meaning:
There is a feeling called hope, that is spontaneous, and is the automatic reaction to a good that is possible, but not yet attained. But the theological virtue of hope is not about that kind of hope. It’s not about the future at all. Nor is it about the past. It’s rather the acceptance of God’s infinite mercy now. So, that infinite mercy is not based on anything we’ve done or not done, but is simply part of the gift or the gratuity of grace, in which God is prepared to forget everything in the past, and would prefer that we entrust the future entirely to him, and not think about it. So it’s a movement into the present moment.
I’ve never thought about hope as an acceptance of now. I’m going to need to think about it a lot more!
…and on that note, thank you to Juliann for hosting another monthly meet-up. These check-in’s are an important part of my journey this year.
mere-et-filles 
I think the breaking straw were some attacks of a/some BIPOC member/s. I made my thoughts clear on my IG post yesterday – and beyond that, I feel that this is something I need to speak out about – to help do the work, as it were. I have lost some followers but that is not bothering me at all. I also went through and removed some “silent” accounts – who post regularly with things they want to sell, yet they have never once spoken out for any of this. As I said yesterday, silence = complicity.
As I understand it, the final straw was attacks on and harassment of a BIPOC Raveler who had left a report on a pro-Trump pattern, not realizing the report would be public. I’m sure there’s more to it than that, but I really have to admire the folks at Ravelry for taking such a strong stand even though they’ve gotten a lot of backlash for it. What all the people who are flouncing are missing is that it’s not about politics, it’s about hate, pure and simple. And I really appreciate having a place online where I know that hate is not welcome.
I think hope is something important to think about in the climate (political and environmental) we live in now. Things can seem so bleak and hopeless that continuing to have hope just might be the best act of defiance.
I don’t know the specifics about what prompted the new ravelry policy, but I also don’t need to know. I want to stand against white supremacy, racism, and hate, and think it’s pretty much a no-brainer for everyone to do the same. I have hope that by taking a strong stand, ravelry is helping all of us to do better and be better.
ravelry is awesome! no matter what I believe that in the end good will prevail as we sail through this turbulent political time…
Truly an awesome move by Ravelry.
I am so glad that Ravelry has taken this measure and I am grateful to be a part of this community!
Richard Rohr always give me so much to ponder and points me in the right direction!
Such a thoughtful, and hopeful, post :). The underlying fear and insecurity that needs to make others ‘Other’ casts such a shadow in our world. It is always cheering when openness and inclusivity are championed.
Interesting perspective on moving into the present moment. I always wonder how to explain such thoughts to people who are not religious and what is their source of hope.
I work hard to maintain hope and it just gets harder every day! Thank you for sharing encouragement; I ‘m acutely aware that these United States have a looong way to go but I never ever expected to live under the current atmosphere . Amazing!