There is something happening in America. It is only a faint whisper, but it is growing. I can feel it in the land and hear it on the wind. It might be hard to hear through the icy cold and draughts that are covering most of the land, but it is there. Maybe I hear it because I am paying attention to so much more, listening with more than my ears, and hearing with more than my heart. These things are required if we are to Stand For Love.
Maybe it is the result of the economy, or the politicians once again caring more about being right than doing what is right. Maybe we as people have just come full circle, tired of the negative pundits, and white-toothed, pretty faces that pass as journalists. It could be the turning of the year, or the ending of lost dreams and the beginning of new ones. It could be we are just plain tired of our own fears. Maybe we are just growing up regardless of our age. Whatever the reason there is “something afoot.”
I think that something is hope.
My first hint of this faint whisper of hope is in the signs I see as I travel America. Within a matter of minutes I passed the following signs, “Love Matters,” “Need More Room,” “Optimism is Contagious” and one of my favorites “Elephants to You.” Yup, that’s right. You didn’t misread it, nor did I. On the Sunday sermon sign outside a small Methodist church in Washington State “Elephants to You” was plastered in big, bold letters.
With the decision to Champion Love, I need to expect more from life and myself. I need to act on those expectations by anticipatory action. I need to anticipate what I expect and act. In short, I need more hope. Not as a desperate act of the “dying,” but rather as the enthusiastic choice of the living. I think I am seeing this renewed commitment in others as I travel the land. People deciding to remember that no matter what “Love matters.” Other folks declaring that they “Need More Room.” Could they mean more room in their hearts and in their heads? Still others encourage optimism. Some even daring to awaken our curiosity and humor, declaring a greeting in elephant speak—”Elephants To You.” All this gives me hope.
Yes, there is something happening in America—and in me.
