Let Hope and Virtue Be Re-Born

During his inauguration speech, President Obama quoted George Washington, "In this hard winter, where only hope and virtue can survive..." Those words have grabbed my imagination and returned time and again to the fore-front of my mind. I believe that President Obama was insightful to remind us of these words, and more importantly, these concepts. For too long, we have allowed a sense of lethargic resignation to hold sway in our lives. We have been content to live with things the way they are. We have been lulled into security because in the grand scheme of things, our lives here in the U.S. are pretty darn good. We have focused on consuming more and more, on stockpiling money & stuff, on being entertained & distracted. Gripped with a purchased contentment, apathy has held us in its grip. Fighting in the Middle East? We think, "Oh, they've fought for centuries over there. That's never going to change." Domestic violence? We think, "That's a personal matter, we can't do anything about that." Global warming? We think, "Nothing's going to change in our lifetime, why should we change?" We have forgotten how to hope. We have forgotten that for something to be achieved it needs be imagined, conceived, dreamt. We have let go of a dream of world peace and opted for a false sense of security through a show of strength. We have let go of the hope that every man, woman and child has the inherent right to dwell without fear of harm because we have complicitly agreed that violence is just a part of life. We no longer hope for a world envisioned by the prophets as a peaceable kindom, where swords become plough shares, where the lion and the lamb dwell together. Such images seem the stuff of fairy tales rather than a blueprint for how the world can be. We need a re-birth of hope -- a stubborn, persistent hope that believes absolutely we can change the world for the good, that we can feed the hungry, that we can be just peacemakers, that we can live into a future where each one is valued & appreciated, that we can care for creation, that we can treat everyone with respect. We need a rebirth of hope and a rebirth of virtue. Virtue? When did we last hear anyone talk about virtue? Where along the way did we set virtue aside? When did we start asking "Can I get away with it?" Instead of, "Is this the right thing to do?" From big issues to small ones, we need a return to virtue. We need to make decisions based on what is right, what is ethical, what is honorable, what is true. So let's begin, you and me. Let's hope in a bright, just, peaceful future. Let's embrace virtue. And together we will begin to transform the world for the common good.