Faith in the Future

102447I usually think of faith in terms of religious belief, and not being a religious person I’ve never considered myself a “person of faith”.  However I am finding that I’ve discovered a kind of faith that’s important to my work as a climate activist.  Faith in the future.  Too many times I’ve heard other climate activists say something like, ‘we are pretty much screwed but we have to keep working on this because it’s the right thing to do’.  For many the basic idea seems to be we are going to go down fighting.  On some levels this is a noble gesture, still doing the right thing even in the face of not getting the results you want.  On the other hand this can be a self defeating line of thought.  How much of a difference is there between doing the right thing just because, and just going through the motions?  I don’t think we can be most effective when we are just going through the motions.  Even if predictions look bleak and we can’t always see signs that we are changing our current trajectory, we don’t know for certain how things are going to turn out.  No one has a crystal ball that shows exactly how all of this ends.  So I see a glimmer of hope, that the unexpected can happen, and that gives me faith.  I think we should study the destructive forces and our failures, but not dwell on them.  We need to celebrate our victories and recognize all of the good people are doing that can help lead us in the right direction.  Let’s not just go through the motions, let’s work on this as if we can change the world.

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