Unforced Hope

Deflect panic

consecrate the good

convert pain

Hear the evil see the

good feel the pain

hope translates

Despair alone

mimics

transformation

For God's sake which

is to say our

neighbor's

The smiling spirit

transparent beneath

the mask

Leave breathing space

for heart piercing

suffering

Challenge the spread

of contagious

nonchalance

Filter the fog

of bureaucratic

betrayal

On guard for placebos

that trivialize

the grief

Prepare to be

startled by unrestrained

giggles

Act with loving

presence to

reshape the pain

Pray into the presence

of a God whose habit

it is to walk with us

Face the world

boldly with

tragic optimism

The last line of the poem are the words of Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning. Simply put, tragic optimism is the ability to say yes to the no of even the deepest suffering. It does not mean that we ignore reality or that we don't do everything we can to stop the suffering. Case in point: to withhold or mismanage resources we have presently to combat Covid-19 is inexcusable if not criminal. And not to pay attention to the science is dangerously shortsighted. But tragic optimism also means we go deep in our soul to find the hopeful strength to triumph.