One must have hope.
And hope lies now, as it always has, in great moral leaders, enlightenment through intellectual and emotional understanding, and strength in the face of adversity.
Just saw SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION for the first time last night. Such a powerful movie about hope (and the use of intellect to thwart evil).
Story is the most powerful force in the universe for changing hearts and minds. I’ve always understood this intuitively and used story for that purpose as a writer – I couldn’t help but have themes of justice and tolerance infuse my works, because that’s just what I’m about.
Story’s power comes from its ability to get under our skins and inside our heads, harnessing hope and intellect and drama to create a shadow play of the real world – one that wrenches empathy out of the deepest parts of our selves.
This morning, I read the inimitable Brain Pickings posting that landed in my inbox and subsequently picked up Parker Palmer’s “On Healing the Heart of Democracy.”
“America’s founders — despite the bigotry that limited their conception of who “We The People” were — had the genius to establish the first form of government in which differences, conflict, and tension were understood not as the enemies of a good social order but as the engines of a better social order.” – Parker Palmer
This. I believe in it. Still. And I’m continuing to harness the power of story to foster hope. We need it – all of us, including me.