Happy new year!
I’ve been told off for saying that this year. Not because it’s the middle of January and it’s a bit late to be wishing anyone a happy new year, although arguably it is, but because it was deemed “too cheerful” in a time of such dire crisis.
It’s true there are some situations in which it may be inappropriate to give a cheerful greeting if someone is going through a particularly hard time, and I apologise if you, too, find my greeting too upbeat.
But my thoughts are about hope, and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wish for a happy – or at least hopeful – year in 2021.
A family member was given Barack Obama’s new book for Christmas, “A Promised Land”, and happily read large chunks out over the festive period. There’s always one!
At first it filled me with anguish – life was so much better in 2008! – but then I remembered the horrors of late 2007 and 2008… not everything was rosy then. And listening to parts of this new book reminded me that back then Barack Obama campaigned for the American presidency on a ticket of hope. It’s easy to think those hopes have been dashed, looking retrospectively at the presidency and what came after it, but Obama’s whole point was that it is worth having hope and believing in the power of change, however unlikely it may seem.
I’m not suggesting that anybody go out and start campaigning to change the world, or that the problems we are faced with at the moment are not difficult for everyone, and extremely difficult for some. But Obama and his writings about “a belief in things not seen, a belief that there are better days ahead,” have reminded me that no life, no period of history, is without its setbacks and tragedies, and that sometimes focussing on hope is the best option. And that’s worth cherishing.