Jamie, my profound thanks for your post this morning. Truly felt like grace to receive it when I did. For the past 50 years I have done my best to bring about "a world that works for everyone". I heard Bucky say it in fact.
And this morning, as it happens more and more frequently, I just lost hope. That world isn't going to come. I've failed. And after explaining to my wife how unlikely it was that we'll solve climate change and how likely it was that we are on a societal train heading over a cliff. I just gave into the hopelessness that seems to just outside me door.
I have, in fact, taken Wendell Berry's advice about confronting all the facts, the second part of his admonition -- to choose to be joyful, I often fail to follow. So back to grace.
Reading your post on Leaving Space for Grace enabled me, after I stopped crying, to lift myself out of my slough of despair, into the only space worth living in -- radical hope. Clear headed and open hearted I make a deep bow to you for being the agent of grace, the soul doctor with just the right medicine for this pilgrim.
Jamie, thank you. This is one of your most poignant articles ever, and it comes at a great time. Once the brutal facts of reality push us off the pedestal of Naive Optimism, we fall into the pit of Existential Nihilism. The pit is deep, and the walls are steep and slippery. It's hard to escape. Faith seems to masquerade as naiveté. They're hard to distinguish.
"But when we have faith that we influence everything (however tangentially), we can restore our belief that our efforts still matter.
And all of our actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant that align with that ultimate goal—from random kindness to senseless acts of beauty–might tip the balance in the long run."
Sound philosophy.
The "everything’s gonna work out" bit of Tragic Optimism leaves me with countless questions, but it's a beautiful idea.
and that's absolutely as far as I'm willing to take it! (metaphysically) we choose it, AS AN ACT Of FAITH. , because to believe anything less is ruin, and to choose it, 'might' be our only path to redemption
Wonderful! Really well-done... You often manage to put words to ideas that I find challenging to contain. When I try to write or speak about them, they turn into ever-expanding webs in my mind where all of these ideas fit together and work, but I can't get them out in anything resembling a coherent package. You have a gift for it!
What an absolutely fantastic post. What comes to mind for me is the Stockdale paradox named after Jim Stockdale who famously survived years of solitary confinement due to an unwavering faith that he was going to get out, but a willingness to stay with the hard facts of his reality as they were. In the meantime, his more naive, optimistic brothers died one after the other. He embodies the tragic optimism that you're talking about.
The other person that came to mind is, of course, Ram Dass. His interrogation of "how to keep your heart open in hell" resonates.
This opens up the question of the "skills" that we need to be able to live in a place of Tragic Optimism. The teachings of Buddha are a great place to look (inner transformation, not grasping at pleasure, not turning away from pain, and from that place of liberation, achieving something like wisdom, combined with love and compassion for the world).
If I can sit quietly in my own heart, but in a place of non-attachment to outcomes, I can also embody what Ram Dass called "unbearable compassion".
Well put! And thank you, for the LOTR explanation. I was so young and remember being confused by the ending. Now it fits with my experience of the relative world of dichotomies and the "understanding"? of the absolute world of the non-conceptual. The One, the Good, and the Beautiful. Thank you, Laurie
I’ve been known to say that the human species is fatally flawed. In conversation with a friend, i said that I was a happy nihilist. I just said, to another friend, I have hope in short term and I work to make things better, but not for the human species’ long term prospects. This article presents a different path for me to consider.
This piece reminded me that true hope is not naïve and it’s not denial. It’s choosing to face reality honestly while remembering that God is still at work in the middle of uncertainty. The idea of being “people of the passage” resonates deeply. Scripture tells us that we walk by faith, not by sight, and that our labor in the Lord is never in vain. Even small acts of kindness, mercy, and courage can carry weight far beyond what we see.
In a world that often feels heavy, I’m grateful for the reminder that we can move forward with clear eyes, steady hearts, and confidence that God is guiding the story. Even when we can’t control everything, we can influence something good. And we can trust the One who ultimately holds the future.
This piece hit surprisingly close to home. I’ve been building my own meaning framework over the past few years (part creative, part philosophical), and reading this felt like someone speaking directly into that space.
I’ve been uncovering what feels like my own dharmic path: finding meaning through the passage, not around it, and holding a grounded hope and vision that isn’t naïve but refuses despair …and even dares to alchemize these ingredients into beauty and art.
The way you weave Frankl, Fuller, Macy, and Tolkien is brilliant. Just wanted to say thank you for putting language to this with such architectural integrity and clarity.
This is a great essay. But somewhere along the line you conflate hope and faith… they are two very different things…. I struggle with the idea of hope … it’s flat and with out action. I do however like Radical Hope .. but like the Hope Punk movement better.
Faith is as you have quoted it .. but they are not the same thing. As Alan Watts writes in the last pages of the Wisdom of Insecurity ( and paraphrased and morphed a little by me) …. When we cross a threshold.. ( a threshold into insecurity) a faith emerges and we are free from clutching the hand can feel, free from looking at oneself, the eyes can see, free from thinking about itself thought can think , and the heart can hear ( can deep listen to the land … to the animate everything) and our path emerges… suma iru … simply be. To me this idea of faith is much , much more profound and powerful than hope ( no matter what other word you add to it .
This is awesome. Had no idea the deeper cut of LOTR that explains how it played out.
Jamie, my profound thanks for your post this morning. Truly felt like grace to receive it when I did. For the past 50 years I have done my best to bring about "a world that works for everyone". I heard Bucky say it in fact.
And this morning, as it happens more and more frequently, I just lost hope. That world isn't going to come. I've failed. And after explaining to my wife how unlikely it was that we'll solve climate change and how likely it was that we are on a societal train heading over a cliff. I just gave into the hopelessness that seems to just outside me door.
I have, in fact, taken Wendell Berry's advice about confronting all the facts, the second part of his admonition -- to choose to be joyful, I often fail to follow. So back to grace.
Reading your post on Leaving Space for Grace enabled me, after I stopped crying, to lift myself out of my slough of despair, into the only space worth living in -- radical hope. Clear headed and open hearted I make a deep bow to you for being the agent of grace, the soul doctor with just the right medicine for this pilgrim.
In gratitude,
Joseph
Jamie, thank you. This is one of your most poignant articles ever, and it comes at a great time. Once the brutal facts of reality push us off the pedestal of Naive Optimism, we fall into the pit of Existential Nihilism. The pit is deep, and the walls are steep and slippery. It's hard to escape. Faith seems to masquerade as naiveté. They're hard to distinguish.
"But when we have faith that we influence everything (however tangentially), we can restore our belief that our efforts still matter.
And all of our actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant that align with that ultimate goal—from random kindness to senseless acts of beauty–might tip the balance in the long run."
Sound philosophy.
The "everything’s gonna work out" bit of Tragic Optimism leaves me with countless questions, but it's a beautiful idea.
Thank you.
and that's absolutely as far as I'm willing to take it! (metaphysically) we choose it, AS AN ACT Of FAITH. , because to believe anything less is ruin, and to choose it, 'might' be our only path to redemption
I agree!
Wonderful! Really well-done... You often manage to put words to ideas that I find challenging to contain. When I try to write or speak about them, they turn into ever-expanding webs in my mind where all of these ideas fit together and work, but I can't get them out in anything resembling a coherent package. You have a gift for it!
Wonderful post. Also, “#dropkickmejesusthroughthegoalpostsoflove” is my favorite hashtag yet. Thank you for the laughs and for the heart ❤️✨
What an absolutely fantastic post. What comes to mind for me is the Stockdale paradox named after Jim Stockdale who famously survived years of solitary confinement due to an unwavering faith that he was going to get out, but a willingness to stay with the hard facts of his reality as they were. In the meantime, his more naive, optimistic brothers died one after the other. He embodies the tragic optimism that you're talking about.
The other person that came to mind is, of course, Ram Dass. His interrogation of "how to keep your heart open in hell" resonates.
This opens up the question of the "skills" that we need to be able to live in a place of Tragic Optimism. The teachings of Buddha are a great place to look (inner transformation, not grasping at pleasure, not turning away from pain, and from that place of liberation, achieving something like wisdom, combined with love and compassion for the world).
If I can sit quietly in my own heart, but in a place of non-attachment to outcomes, I can also embody what Ram Dass called "unbearable compassion".
Anyway, thank you so much for the post.
"You have no chance, use it!"
Quote very likely by Herbert Achternbusch
Well put! And thank you, for the LOTR explanation. I was so young and remember being confused by the ending. Now it fits with my experience of the relative world of dichotomies and the "understanding"? of the absolute world of the non-conceptual. The One, the Good, and the Beautiful. Thank you, Laurie
I’ve been known to say that the human species is fatally flawed. In conversation with a friend, i said that I was a happy nihilist. I just said, to another friend, I have hope in short term and I work to make things better, but not for the human species’ long term prospects. This article presents a different path for me to consider.
Beautiful. <3 Thank you so much for sharing this.
This piece reminded me that true hope is not naïve and it’s not denial. It’s choosing to face reality honestly while remembering that God is still at work in the middle of uncertainty. The idea of being “people of the passage” resonates deeply. Scripture tells us that we walk by faith, not by sight, and that our labor in the Lord is never in vain. Even small acts of kindness, mercy, and courage can carry weight far beyond what we see.
In a world that often feels heavy, I’m grateful for the reminder that we can move forward with clear eyes, steady hearts, and confidence that God is guiding the story. Even when we can’t control everything, we can influence something good. And we can trust the One who ultimately holds the future.
This piece hit surprisingly close to home. I’ve been building my own meaning framework over the past few years (part creative, part philosophical), and reading this felt like someone speaking directly into that space.
I’ve been uncovering what feels like my own dharmic path: finding meaning through the passage, not around it, and holding a grounded hope and vision that isn’t naïve but refuses despair …and even dares to alchemize these ingredients into beauty and art.
The way you weave Frankl, Fuller, Macy, and Tolkien is brilliant. Just wanted to say thank you for putting language to this with such architectural integrity and clarity.
Love this!
Beautiful
This is a great essay. But somewhere along the line you conflate hope and faith… they are two very different things…. I struggle with the idea of hope … it’s flat and with out action. I do however like Radical Hope .. but like the Hope Punk movement better.
Faith is as you have quoted it .. but they are not the same thing. As Alan Watts writes in the last pages of the Wisdom of Insecurity ( and paraphrased and morphed a little by me) …. When we cross a threshold.. ( a threshold into insecurity) a faith emerges and we are free from clutching the hand can feel, free from looking at oneself, the eyes can see, free from thinking about itself thought can think , and the heart can hear ( can deep listen to the land … to the animate everything) and our path emerges… suma iru … simply be. To me this idea of faith is much , much more profound and powerful than hope ( no matter what other word you add to it .
I fucking love this. A philosophy for purpose in this life. I appreciate the reminder.
Thanks for the clarity