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It
is said that without a hope and a vision humanity will perish.
I was in a neighborhood meeting when it was asked what were
the most serious problems in the community someone said hopelessness. When I heard that I thought
about it. I had said apathy but…. hopelessness!
When we organized our youth group motor home ministry*, one of the
things that motivated us was wanting children in our neighborhood to
develop a vision of the world that is broader that their own block and
neighborhood and can produce hope for their future. We wanted
them to see the endless possibilities that life offers them. We
wanted to help other adults to have a resource that could help them share
the wonders of the world with our neighborhood kids.
I have watched how our community often has been led and I am not always
impressed with how we help people see the way to a better future. Often
the focus is on the negatives. Leaders too often point to the
problems instead of focusing on our resources and on a vision of what we
want for the future.
I believe that some of us confuse our young people by blaming all our
personal failures on lack of opportunity and being cheated by other
people. We need to right wrongs and make sure that our children are
treated fairly and are not blocked from opportunities, and get their fair
share. We do not need to lead our children and others to believe that
there is no hope while we escape the old neighborhood and "live the
good life". Our people have more educational, financial, and
material resources than most of the rest of the world. We should
admit personal failures, help our young people work around and
overcome unfair treatment by other people, and try to recognize and seize
opportunities when they present themselves.
Many of the leaders of our community describe our older neighborhoods as a
place we should escape from. They not only say we should
escape, they lead the way with resources obtained from those who can
not afford to follow them into newer neighborhoods or out of the city
altogether.
We need leaders who have a vision of the future and know how to
inspire our people to recognize the potential we have and show by
example. We need leaders who will help us stick together and use
available resources. We need leaders who will invest their own
personal resources in our community, and help us build a better
future. That is what our grandparents did under much more difficult
circumstances and that is one way that our community can overcome hopelessness.
An e-mail response opportunity is below
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