The morning of Nov. 9 had quite a unique vibe to it. Whether you were at the office, at school or at home, there was one topic on everyone’s mind, but the discussion was met with two radically different sentiments: hopefulness or anxiety, depending on whom you wanted as president.
Either way, as we move closer toward this transfer of power later this month, uncertainty, more than anything, permeates our society. What’s going to happen next? With our jobs? With our taxes? With our health insurance?
If you are a part of a group targeted by political speech, your concerns may be even more numerous. Are you going to kicked out of the country? Are you going to be victims of hateful actions?
The reality, of course, is that none of this is certain until it happens. People would love nothing more than time, a heads-up, so they can adjust to change, but that won’t happen. So how do we deal with that fear? How can we prepare for a future unknown?
I wish I could give you a straight answer here, one that will alleviate all fears or confirm your dearest aspirations, but I don’t have one. What I do have is a suggestion.
Have faith. Stay optimistic.
Easy to say, right? But hear me out.
The next year will be filled with change, and in some instances, truly transformative ones. We fear that this change will leave us behind, or we will be forgotten, or victimized. Perhaps, we are worried that the change we actually will see is not what we hoped for and were promised.
Regardless of what silo you may fall under, this isn’t new for us. We can all remember a time when we felt afraid of what may or may not happen. More importantly, in our faith’s readings and teachings, we know of countless times when prophets and disciples and even Jesus himself were afraid of the uncertainty that lay ahead. And each time, we are taught the same lesson:
Have faith. Stay optimistic.
We have to firmly hold on to the belief that, regardless of the circumstances that befall us, that we are forced to face, we trust things will work out, that God will guide us to a better place.
This does not excuse us from acting. If you strongly believe in a cause, do go out and do everything that’s in your power to help that cause. Participate and engage.
But even if your efforts are not successful, and even if what happens is going to make things even more difficult, the lesson is still the same.
No one can say what the future has in store for any of us, but we can also take comfort that the one thing that will always remain in our control, regardless of circumstances, is our attitude and our faith.
Have faith. Stay optimistic.
(Espino, a 2011 graduate of Marquette University High School, Milwaukee, who earned his bachelor’s degree in economics and political science at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in May 2015, works at an investment management firm in Los Angeles. His home parish is St. Vincent de Paul, Milwaukee. Email him at fespino.casas@gmail.com)
