Hope or Love?

I’ve always tried to find reasons to be hopeful when the world is dark. But after reading Substack posts by Caitlin Johnstone and Jena Brown, who describe love as central to their resistance, I decided to try prioritizing love over hope in my own activism.

Caitlin Johnstone with husband and collaborator, Tim Foley

Unlike hope which can be amorphous and intangible, like hoping for the best in people, a love approach is more active, grounded in daily actions.  This is how Johnstone describes it:

“This work (activism) doesn’t have to be miserable. It can be sorrowful at times, frustrating at times, scary at times, downright enraging at times, but it never needs to be miserable.  Learn to perceive the beauty in all that arises, and you’ll find not only the will to fight, but a clear reason to keep on fighting for as long as your body draws breath.”

My first attempt practicing being in the world with a loving outlook occurred as I was rushing to keep a lunch date, when I passed an unhoused man pushing an overflowing grocery cart of his belongings, struggling with the contents that had spilled onto the sidewalk. Rather than write him off as an urban nuisance, I remembered my intention to face the world with a loving practice, so I stopped to help him gather his belongings.  He thanked me with a big smile. In turn I felt a greater connection to the world at large. (Maybe Johnstone is on to something after all.)

In conversation with a friend, I shared how I was quelling my moral outrage by focusing on a loving connection to the world at large.  Her response, “How can you love Netanyahu or Trump?  My answer, “I can’t.  They’re both evil, but I don’t have to stay with these feelings or let them consume me.  I can protest against them while focusing on the good in the world.”

No practice is fool proof. There are plenty of days when I sink into despair over the world’s ugliness. When this happens, I give in to it, let myself feel it, take a meditative break, a restorative walk or a nap.  This is akin to the philosophy of Tricia Hersey, whose bestselling book, “Rest is Resistance,” advocates stepping back and resting when life is too much. Hersey founded a nap ministry where members of her congregation curl up in sleeping bags on the church floor.  Hersey claims rest is essential to social justice work, providing a balance between hard work and taking care of oneself.

I’m not discarding hope, but I think hope has to be grounded in real events as opposed to wishing for a better outcome.

For example, I feel hopeful seeing the swelling global protests in support of Gaza.  I realize it may be too late to put the brakes on Israel’s final solution to drive all of Gaza’s remaining citizens out of the country.  But the world won’t forget.  Israel has forever lost its standing as a country that represents democracy.  Its live-streamed genocide will go down as one of the worst genocides in modern history.  For enabling it, the US will also be forever scarred.

A love-filled approach to activism necessitates working in community. We are powerful together. If the world’s darkness has plunged you into despair, please don’t let the darkness swallow you. Find like-minded others and join with them in a love-centered resistance.  Don’t underestimate the power of community. My gold standard is the love-centered communities in Gaza. Israel is killing them in record numbers, but they continue to practice love for one another.