The American historian Howard Zinn offers this insight on what we can learn from the study of history:
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places – and there are so many – where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
It is easy to be cynical. How often these days do we hear statements like, Modern Culture is destroying society’s morals, people are selfish, only think of themselves? There are no heroes anymore.
But Howard Zinn believes that history shows that there are moments of heroic compassion, and extraordinary selfless leadership, that people can and do come together in times of crisis, that there are heroes, even today, who inspire us.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges us not to get caught up in pessimism. Signs of God’s love are all around us, daring us to never lose hope.
And so, we are called to shake off the dread of fear and gloom, and work to build the kingdom of compassion and peace.