John Phipps: Christmas is a Season of Hope
U.S. Farm Report 122521 - Johns World 2
Christmas is a season of hope. It’s in our seasonal songs – “Hope of all the earth Thou art”. I leave that earworm out there to bug you until you identify the carol. For many of us it seems like a long time since we have felt hopeful, but there are clear reasons why. First, it’s not cool. This is a cynical age, awarding fame points to those who can squash with 140-characters any hopeful statements. Hope is often confused with being sadly uninformed or hilariously naïve. Speaking with hope soon became a risky conversational theme. One result is many hopeful people keep silent in public, just to avoid the inevitable scorn. This Christmas, I think, that unexpressed hope has begun to leak out, despite the laundry list of reasons why it is unfashionable. Our repressed hope inventory might just rival inflation as it balloons into our lives. We may rediscover hope is an essential ingredient in the meaningful life we are seeking with more intensity than ever.
Another reason hope has languished in our hearts and voices is we often attach an unrealistic and immediate schedule to our hopes. Hoping for a specific gift this year, or, in our profession, hitting a target price for our commodities, we too often overlook the sustaining power of longer-term abiding hopes. These are distant dreams we have ample time to turn into reality. For instance, a multi-generational goal for your farm, like raising the organic matter in a field. Or keeping in good enough physical shape to farm alongside a two-generation successor, or the ever so gradual promise of planting trees. Pick one of your persistent hopes to realize. Like playing the guitar or learning woodcarving. These great hopes endure on the horizons of tomorrow when we look up from the battles of this day, or hour, or moment. The glimpses of joy and the quiet inspiration they bring are the essence of this season, and one of the most precious gifts of our Christmas celebration. Daring to hope can add exhilaration and renewal to offset the world-weariness we too often add thoughtlessly to our Yule season.
May your Christmas be filled with all kinds of hope and may you have the courage to embrace them.
