The Audacity of Hope

The ghosts of our past whisper in our ear:

We have been here many times before.

 

A house divided cannot stand.

In this period of derision,

The fragmentation and division—

Hostile words, so easily exchanged—

Our families, our neighbors—

How we are estranged.

Though the words of the prophets are rearranged,

The prophecy itself has never changed:

All. Is. One.

 

Bound by both gravity and the cosmos above,

The tides of duality rise and recede.

The pendulum of time is always swinging.

The systems are failing,

Yet still, we are clinging.

And now the warning bells are ringing:

The rise of factions,

Such loathsome actions,

Vitriol abounds,

This rhetoric of hate,

It all precipitates the fall of the State.

 

In this earthly existence,

So momentary and brief,

Part of the tree of life,

We’re each a leaf.

And our lived experience

Forms our unique belief.

 

But lost in our divergent views,

We fail to see the devil’s ruse.

Two forces opposing; it’s us versus them.

Forming tribes and enemies,

We feed the stratagem.

Our lived experience becomes truth’s diadem,

And those who would contradict—

How they blaspheme.

 

Each side believes they speak truth with love,

While the other spews lies filled with hate.

How we fail to see our commonality—

The grief we’ll all face in our mortality.

Truly, have we forgotten our shared humanity?

 

To attack one another is to attack oneself,

For if God is in everything

That was and is and ever will be,

Then how can we not see the God within,

Regardless of gender or the color of our skin?

 

In the world of spirit, beyond our five senses,

If we can learn to shed all the labels and lenses,

We’d see a lifeforce that flows in us all.

You.

And I.

We are more alike than we know.

 

Can we learn to see with the heart?

Can we embrace the “other?”

In this physical realm—

Dare we risk love?

Can we let it overwhelm?

 

Each life is unique,

Revealing a different truth,

Lest we forget the wisdom of our youth—

A time when our hearts were unfettered by fear,

When the world was full of wonder,

When we were curious to learn—

Less convicted, less stern.

 

There is little we can control.

Every day, it seems the dark tide rises,

As the fabric of our society unravels:

Civility fading,

Respect degrading,

Honor and honesty abating.

 

Though perhaps we are powerless

To change the world,

May we never forget that true power is found

In our unassailable freedom of choice.

The freedom:

To defiantly choose who we will be in this world.

To bravely show up for others.

To extend grace and forgiveness.

To boldly show mercy.

To act justly.

To walk humbly.

To love kindness.

 

The future is yet unwritten.

And yes, tomorrow remains uncertain.

But may we find the courage

To stand in the wake of the rising tide

With the blind audacity of hope.

 

 

Dane Dowell

January 26, 2025

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