I recently learned a new word: "hopium." It's internet slang, and it names the kind of hope that works like a drug. Hopium is the voice that says someone else will fix it, the next headline will make it all go away, and if we just don't look too closely, everything will turn out fine. I'll confess I've taken a hit or two myself. It feels good for a moment. But like any drug, it wears off, and it leaves us more anxious, more tired, and less able to change the world we actually live in.
Real hope asks more of us. It takes courage to look honestly at our climate, our democracy, and the struggles of our neighbors. But here's the surprising part: when we face reality, we can then see the organizers who have been at this work for decades, the young people who refuse to give up, the laws that changed because ordinary people kept showing up to vote, and the neighbor who arrives with a casserole. Rebecca Solnit writes, "Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency."
So this October, as we explore the theme of courage together, I invite you to try a little hopium detox and grab some courage instead. Trade the comforting fantasy for the truth, and then notice what the truth is inviting you to do. Call or write your representative. Join FEAT (Fair Elections Advocacy Team) at church, or the LGBTQ Action Group. Check on the friend who's been quiet lately.
The love at the center of our shared values was never meant to be passive. It's hope with its eyes open and its hands busy, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather practice it with than all of you.
With love,
Rev. Sian
Rev. Sian Wiltshire is Orange Coast Unitarian Universalist Church's minister. Please feel free to reach out and say hello! She can be reached by email, revsian@ocuuc.org, or by church phone at (714) 556-2882 (x302).