Fatalism ain’t it.
You know that sense of being unable to change things so why even bother?
Our climate projections look so bleak. Why even bother? Unfortunately this way of thinking gets us to the exact same spot climate denial gets us.
Or another in circulation this week. We can’t make laws that get rid of evil and darkness. Why even bother?
Enough of us know that the goal isn’t the philosophical fantasy of eliminating evil. It’s the practical, urgent, and necessary goal of saving lives.
Of course these examples of fatalism are easy for me to identify and reject because I don’t subscribe to them whatsoever. But I think we all have our own struggle of fatalism in some form.
As terrible as this week’s tragedy in Texas has been, most of me has little confidence that we’ll do anything. When we made no changes after Sandy Hook, we really sold our souls away to accepting all kinds of evil. And having to be honest with that makes me livid.
But if I’m going to be in the business of rejecting fatalism, I need to do this in the ways I’m prone to it.
After all… the best things that have happened in my life also come with this powerful reminder: you actually never do know what’s possible until you try.
Hope isn’t a sugary good feeling. It’s not the same thing as optimism. It’s where you plant your feet.
While it’s often hard to believe change can happen, in some ways that doesn’t matter. We must keep insisting that it must.
Reject Fatalism
