Disciple: Signs of Hope

A reflection from the Bishop-elect

By The Rev. Samuel Rodman

In the Epistle for Lent III, St. Paul writes: “…we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God … but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

I have been focused lately, in my prayer, on hope. Not just because, as your bishop-elect, I have high hopes as Debbie and I prepare to join you in North Carolina. My focus on hope is rooted in the gospel promise that “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit …” Simply put: God’s love in our hearts is the source of our hope.

Why is hope so important right now? In our divided nation the rhetoric on both sides has become increasingly frustrated, angry, desperate and despairing. As I listen, there is a level of both urgency and despondency I have not encountered before. One story that captures this is from a gathering of friends the other night, at which one woman said she is at a complete loss on how to stay in relationship with a person to whom she has been close for nearly 50 years because they are on opposite sides of our country’s current political divide. The pain in this relationship was palpable.

The conversation touched the part of me that grieves when we are at odds with each other. It left me wondering if some of our difficulty here is that each side seems driven to place the blame for these challenges and woes on those who do not share our persuasion or perspective. But what if instead of focusing on what is wrong — the bad news, so to speak — we tried to pay more attention to what is right, to what is working, to signs of hope? There is an old adage in systems theory that if you want to transform an unhealthy organization or dynamic, you begin by focusing on where the health is, not by focusing on the un-health.

So what if we turned our attention to signs of hope around us and stories of progress? What if we turned our attention to the good news rather than the bad news (or even the fake news)?
Recently, a Lutheran pastor and colleague of mine, Ross Goodman, introduced me to a website called Future Crunch, and specifically, to a blog post on the site called “99 Reasons 2016 was a good year.” Here are some of the reasons, from this blog.

In 2016:

• World hunger reached its lowest point in 25 years.
• Incarceration rates of African Americans fell in the U.S. (The article points out we still have a long way to go, but this is a beginning.)
• Global malaria deaths have declined by 60 percent since 2000.
• New research showed acid pollution in the atmosphere is now back to the pre-industrialization levels prior to the 1930’s.

These good news items give us reason to hope, but more than that, they are connected to a larger framework of good news – the good news of the gospel. This is the kind of information we, as The Episcopal Church, need to broadcast and celebrate, not to hide or ignore our divisions, but to offer a different starting point. Where are we working together well? Where have there been positive, life-giving impacts? What can we learn from these stories? In what ways do these stories reflect the gospel values we trust? In what ways, in this season of Lent, might these stories also point us in the direction of the resurrection promise?

As I look ahead to serving as your bishop diocesan in the first few months, I look forward to hearing more of the local stories, the signs of hope in North Carolina, that celebrate these same gospel values, and the resurrection promise at the heart of every person, parish, mission and chaplaincy in our diocese. Hope is the character of the church, and, as St. Paul reminds us: “…hope does not disappoint us…!”

The Rev. Samuel Rodman is the bishop-elect of the Diocese of North Carolina.