Things Are Getting Better
I can be a bit of a pessimist at times. If I let myself, I can fall down a pit of what if’s, assumptions, and catastrophizing. I suspect that I’m not the only one prone to such things but recently, I really got hung up on a particular thought:
“Things really are getting better, aren’t they?”
It’s easy to dismiss that right now, I get it. We’re arguably more aware of racial injustice and systemic abuses of power than ever. We’re (hopefully) towards the end of a global pandemic, with some speculation about a second wave. A presidential election is a few months away and the two primary choices are, frankly speaking, lacking. The list could go on and on.
I’m not suggesting that there aren’t serious issues that people are dealing with, both personally and societally. Nor am I trying to say, “Look at how good things are, stop complaining.” Instead, I want to hang my proverbial hat on something that has really wowed me every time I’ve stopped to think about it.
A Few Years Make a Big Difference
I have a brother who’s six years older than I am. By itself, that fact is pretty insignificant. Sixyears is roughly 22% of my current lifespan, and I’m sure you can find a great deal of things that lasted for six years. However, aside from the obvious age difference between me and my brother, there’s something else that’s incredibly significant about the time between the time of my brother’s birth and the time of my own.
The USSR dissolved in 1991, a year and a few months before I was born. Between the time my brother was born and the time I was born, an empire built on millions of corpses collapsed. When my brother was born, many assumed that the USSR would be a major power for decades to come and serious geopolitical threat. When I was born, many of those same people likely argued that the coming collapse was obvious to anyone looking for the signs. All that to say, the shape of the world literally changed for the better and by the time it was, historically speaking, right around the corner, few, if any, saw it coming.
The Difference Between Being Owned and Being Free
A more immediately relevant example is that of slavery in the United States. In 1859, I’m sure that some scoffed at the idea of the abolition of non-punitive slavery in the US. Many were pushing for abolition or otherwise working to free slaves, but I suspect few would imagine that their efforts would come to fruition so soon and at the end of a bloody and brutal war. This is important to note. Sometimes, history moves and develops in such a way that its best turns arise out of pain and suffering, sometimes even on an international scale. This isn’t a justification of war or an attempt to make it seem praiseworthy, but rather a recognition that one can never be sure what challenges and difficulties lie between the here and now of our present crises and the future wherein these crises are resolved. Again, by the time that abolition or even the advances of the Civil Rights movement were coming to fruition, few if any, saw it coming and everyone involved had to wade through dark and deep water to get where they were going.
All Will Be Well
One of my favorite media personalities today, despite our various differences, often says, “We are winning. We will win. All will be well.” His optimism is contagious and, I think well founded. You may say, “Sam, look around you. Black people are killed indiscriminately. Police officers often abuse their power. China is a human rights nightmare. Our politicians are barely trustworthy and sometimes the news isn’t any better.” Those things are all true, but let me offer a few points to consider.
We have an unprecedented capacity to expose injustice, abuse, and dishonesty. To paraphrase a quote I’ve never quite been able to nail down a source for: “If you have a smartphone, you have a microphone and camera. You can be a journalist.”
There is a growing refusal to accept business as usual.
Your ability to find and connect with people who care about the same causes as you do is growing everyday.
Building off the first point, information has never been easier to find and catalogue, and it’s never been easier, at least in theory, to preserve.
If you say there are major issues that we have to contend with, I’ll agree with you. What I won’t agree with you on is the notion that we should meet those challenges with despair. Instead, we should look forward, knowing that there will be a time where our crises will be memories, even if they end up being painful at times. Obviously, for Christians, we have the promise that all things will be made right when Christ returns and that is a good and beautiful hope that we have. However, even now, I believe that we can look out at the world and genuinely say, “One way or another, all will be well.”