Every day presents infinite reasons to believe that change can't happen,
infinite reasons to give up. But I always tell myself, "Sonya, you have to
pick your team." It seems to me that there are two teams in this world. And
you can find evidence to support the arguments of both. The trademark of one
team is cynicism. They'll tell you why what you're doing doesn't matter, why
nothing is going to change, why no matter how hard you work, you're going to
fail. They seem to get satisfaction out of explaining how we'll always have
injustice. You can't change human nature, they say. It's foolish to try.
From their experience, they might be right.
Then there's another group of people who admit that they don't know how
things will turn out, but have decided to work for change. I see Martin
Luther King on that team, Alice Walker, Howard Zinn. I see my chaplain from
college and my activist friends. They're always telling stories of faith
being rewarded, of ways things could be different, of how their own lives
have changed. They'll give you reasons why you shouldn't give up,
testimonials why we've yet to see our full potential as a species. They
believe we're partners in God's creation, and that change is really
possible.
There are times when both teams seem right. Both have evidence. We'll never
know who's really going to prevail. So I just have to decide which team
seems happier, which side I'd rather be on. And for me that means choosing
on the side of faith. Because on the side of cynicism, even if they're
right, who wants to win that argument anyway? If I'm going to stick with
somebody, I'd rather stick with people who have a sense of possibility and
hope. I just know that's the side I want to be on.
--
From The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a
Time of Fear edited by Paul Loeb (Basic Books,
www.theimpossible.org), named
the #3 political book of Fall 2004 by the History Channel and American Book
Association. This was originally published in Loeb's Soul of a Citizen:
Living With Conviction in a Cynical Time. Sonya Vetra Tinsley is an Atlanta
activist and musician.
