Hey there- welcome to No Small Thing…tonight’s topic- HOPE! (it should be noted that this episode was recording during the strange week of waiting during the 2020 U.S. elections). We sat down to curiously explore the idea of hope- both what it even means and what hope looks like today. Both Scott and Mace ended up showing up to the conversation with lots of wisdom from other voices around hope, their words guided the conversation as we unpacked h o p e.
TO BE HOPEFUL in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
Howard Zinn
We also heard a ton of thoughts from you, the listeners about how you define hope. In the later part of the conversation we read and engage with those thoughts!
We hope you enjoy giving this one a listen- it feels that to hope is an act of courage and imagination and one worthy of taking up…catch y’all next week 🙂
NO SMALL THING 