I recently had a post show up on my Facebook Wall that stated among other things, "we know who the fools are. The ones that believed all that hope & change c##p." My first response to think to myself, "Have I just been insulted?" Is someone insinuating that if I believe in hope and change that somehow makes me a fool.
Now I have to explain that I really think they were referring to the President's campaign rhetoric when he was running for office. However, even if that is the case I wondered, why would anyone call "hope" and "change" c##p? It just didn't resonate with me as something a thinking person would say.
Now I know that not all change is good and that sometimes we misplace our hope but to blanket label hope and change as c##p seemed a little much to me. So I decided to give it a little thought . . . a little thought (with the emphasis on the little part) is all it deserved in my mind.
At first I spent a few moments wondering whether or not we should be calling anyone a fool. In light of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:22 I suspect we should be very judicious before referring to anyone as a fool. There is no question in my mind the people sometimes act foolishly. In fact I might go so far as to assert that we all have or will have acted foolishly at some point in our lives before we leave this world. But that only makes us "acting the fool" not being one. That is perhaps with the exception of the atheist since Scripture declares that "the fool hath said in his heart there is no God." The "in his heart" part is important because that means not only does he say it but he believes it in the core of his being.
Now the dictionary defines the word fool as "a person who acts silly or stupid; a person who lacks judgment or sense. Or, a professional jester, formerly kept by a person of royal or noble rank for amusement: the court fool. Or,a person who has been tricked or deceived into appearing or acting silly or stupid: to make a fool of someone." I would add that it might even refer to an English soup such as in "Gooseberry Fool."
As serious as I think calling anyone a fool is, I realized what was really troublesome to me is that they were labeling anyone who believed in hope and change a fool. I ask, "why would anyone think of "change" and "hope" as "c##p?" In my mind change is inevitable and hope is essential."
Then it dawned on me they weren't speaking of hope and change in general they were thing of one man's hope and change. That bothered me even more than if they had stated a bias against hope and change in general.
Having hope means being optimistic and encouraged. It is believing that better days are ahead. It is that which drives change. For things to get better they have to change. Now I understand believing that hope and change is c##p means that they are happy with the status quo. This is as good as it gets so we don't need change and we especially don't need the change with which I disagree.
I remember my Father talking about a certain relative and say, "Aw,______ remembers things the way they never were." This was often followed with, "The only thing good about the good old days is that they are gone." It is true that we tend to romanticize the past and fear the future. But buried somewhere in this bit of home grown wisdom is the fact that change can be good and change can be bad and it can be both at the same time. The one thing that is certain is that for good or for ill change is inevitable. It is one of the few constants in life.
And that's why we need hope. We need hope to help us effect and adapt to change. You see that's what is wrong with ideologist. They are rigid and inflexible. They think every little thing that is inconsistent with their viewpoint is a hill on which to die. It is only people who are not afraid of change and have hope that better days are coming through that change that progress takes place.
I would add a third element, one that my FB friend did not mention, and that is faith. It is the absence of faith that has turned hope to cynicism for many. Faith causes me to act on my hope and both effect and adapt to change.
I have faith in God. I believe he is in control and that His will and purposes will be accomplished. I have faith in my fellow citizens. I choose to believe that with our hopes for the future we will believe that tomorrow can and will be better than today. It is through change wrought by our faith that our hopes become reality. Throw in a big old dose of charity (love) and we have the formula for building a great nation. Now abide these three, Faith Hope and Love but of these three the greatest is love. Love is a powerful agent for change. After all it was God's loved that changed me; it is God's love that dwells within me; and it is that love which will cause me to act in ways that bring my hope for a better tomorrow to fruition.
So my FB friend may see hope and change as c##p but I see it as a major component of God working in His world today. Only believe, only believe all things are possible if we only believe.
Now I have to explain that I really think they were referring to the President's campaign rhetoric when he was running for office. However, even if that is the case I wondered, why would anyone call "hope" and "change" c##p? It just didn't resonate with me as something a thinking person would say.
Now I know that not all change is good and that sometimes we misplace our hope but to blanket label hope and change as c##p seemed a little much to me. So I decided to give it a little thought . . . a little thought (with the emphasis on the little part) is all it deserved in my mind.
At first I spent a few moments wondering whether or not we should be calling anyone a fool. In light of what Jesus said in Matthew 5:22 I suspect we should be very judicious before referring to anyone as a fool. There is no question in my mind the people sometimes act foolishly. In fact I might go so far as to assert that we all have or will have acted foolishly at some point in our lives before we leave this world. But that only makes us "acting the fool" not being one. That is perhaps with the exception of the atheist since Scripture declares that "the fool hath said in his heart there is no God." The "in his heart" part is important because that means not only does he say it but he believes it in the core of his being.
Now the dictionary defines the word fool as "a person who acts silly or stupid; a person who lacks judgment or sense. Or, a professional jester, formerly kept by a person of royal or noble rank for amusement: the court fool. Or,a person who has been tricked or deceived into appearing or acting silly or stupid: to make a fool of someone." I would add that it might even refer to an English soup such as in "Gooseberry Fool."
As serious as I think calling anyone a fool is, I realized what was really troublesome to me is that they were labeling anyone who believed in hope and change a fool. I ask, "why would anyone think of "change" and "hope" as "c##p?" In my mind change is inevitable and hope is essential."
Then it dawned on me they weren't speaking of hope and change in general they were thing of one man's hope and change. That bothered me even more than if they had stated a bias against hope and change in general.
Having hope means being optimistic and encouraged. It is believing that better days are ahead. It is that which drives change. For things to get better they have to change. Now I understand believing that hope and change is c##p means that they are happy with the status quo. This is as good as it gets so we don't need change and we especially don't need the change with which I disagree.
I remember my Father talking about a certain relative and say, "Aw,______ remembers things the way they never were." This was often followed with, "The only thing good about the good old days is that they are gone." It is true that we tend to romanticize the past and fear the future. But buried somewhere in this bit of home grown wisdom is the fact that change can be good and change can be bad and it can be both at the same time. The one thing that is certain is that for good or for ill change is inevitable. It is one of the few constants in life.
And that's why we need hope. We need hope to help us effect and adapt to change. You see that's what is wrong with ideologist. They are rigid and inflexible. They think every little thing that is inconsistent with their viewpoint is a hill on which to die. It is only people who are not afraid of change and have hope that better days are coming through that change that progress takes place.
I would add a third element, one that my FB friend did not mention, and that is faith. It is the absence of faith that has turned hope to cynicism for many. Faith causes me to act on my hope and both effect and adapt to change.
I have faith in God. I believe he is in control and that His will and purposes will be accomplished. I have faith in my fellow citizens. I choose to believe that with our hopes for the future we will believe that tomorrow can and will be better than today. It is through change wrought by our faith that our hopes become reality. Throw in a big old dose of charity (love) and we have the formula for building a great nation. Now abide these three, Faith Hope and Love but of these three the greatest is love. Love is a powerful agent for change. After all it was God's loved that changed me; it is God's love that dwells within me; and it is that love which will cause me to act in ways that bring my hope for a better tomorrow to fruition.
So my FB friend may see hope and change as c##p but I see it as a major component of God working in His world today. Only believe, only believe all things are possible if we only believe.
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