THE MANTRA OF CHOOSE LOVE, CHOOSE HOPE Tuesday, March 22
Romans 5:3-4: Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. It would be easy to write an essay about how difficult the past two years have been for all of us with the pandemic. It would be even easier to complain about how my last couple years of high school and my transition to college were exponentially more challenging than they might have been. What’s easiest of all, however, is letting myself get swept up in the narrative of mental anguish, social isolation, and fear for the world around me. No one can deny that the past two years have taken a toll on ourselves and everyone around us–the burnout on life itself is visible in the eyes of everyone I meet. Suffering has become the norm; whether we have had to turn our bedrooms into a classroom or if we have seen someone we love pass away, we lean so fully into the hurt we’ve been harboring since March of 2020 that it feels truly insurmountable at this point. When the wave of that pain comes crashing down over my head, tugging at me to drift back into the depth of my own self-pity, keeping my head above water–let alone perseverance–seems impossible. For this reason, the mantra of “choose love, choose hope” is especially relevant for me. The world will not change to best suit me, or any of us, for that matter. Covid, politics, day to day stress, and the post-traumatic cycles of hurt that we are tangled in will not go away or change themselves–they are aspects of reality that no amount of wallowing or complaint will remedy. Therefore, perseverance and healing, instead of being given, must become a choice. When things seem so difficult that they overwhelm our ability to see love and hope clearly, faith reminds us that it is through choosing to continue searching through the fog of suffering, we build our character and our strength to maintain the love and hope we so desperately crave. Faith also allows us to be hopeful for more hope–that is, for the hope that is yet to come should we still choose to believe in it. Choosing love and hope for ourselves, choosing to exude it, only fills the world with more of the love and hope that it seems to lack. As an act of kindness towards ourselves, we choose through faith to be in the presence of God as we keep swimming against the tide of heartache; through doing so, we find further love and hope to go forth as active hands and feet of Jesus in the world. May You grant me the strength to wake up with enough faith to continue choosing hope and love throughout my day. May the permission I give myself to feel suffering only equip me with more strength and perseverance. May your light come as a constant reminder of the grace that I should afford myself, even when I feel undeserving. May I do what I can to spread hope and love in my corner of the world, and to know that it is significant, no matter how small of an impact. Amen Ella Arnold
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