Joyanna Sanmarco
RS 259 Faith and Justice
Fall 2004

Journal Entry on Selections from Paul Loeb's “The Impossible Will Take a Little While”

In many of the chapters that have preceded these four selections, hope has been discussed on a large scale, concentrating more on hope for the masses or a larger group of people.  However, in these four selections, hope is seen through a smaller, more focused lens.  Any hope at all, no matter what the cause, is a gift from God.  It is turning to Him and saying that our faith is in Him.  It is continually praying that this world will become a better place and that the situations that we encounter throughout our lives will turn out for the better.  As Pablo Neruda clearly portrays, hope does not need an audience, but simply two people who are willing to connect in some way.  That day changed Neruda's outlook on the world, for the boy on the other side of the fence still enters into his mind from time to time.  In this particular encounter, two boys who hardly knew if each other's existence connected in some way, and shared with the other a little something that made him happy.    From this encounter, Neruda was instilled with the hope that it is possible for two strangers to connect and bring joy, love, happiness, and God's word to each other.  It reinforces the idea “that all of humanity is somehow together.”

I have never thought of the imagination as a source of hope before, until reading about the trials and successes of Desnos in the concentration camps.  Images constantly flash before our eyes provoking our brains to process and then analyze them.  This analysis and the free spirit of one's mind allow the mind to wander.  Some of the greatest ideas and thoughts come out of the most unstructured thought.  Our imaginations could potentially be our greatest personal source of hope, for if we imagine the world being a better place in the future, that is what we will want to see happen.  These hopes cannot fall by the wayside if we would like them to become realities, for “social movements are driven by imagination.”  Our imaginations are not childish, but our greatest sources of inspiration.

As Neruda explains, “all of humanity is somehow together,” and in the third selection, Lewis takes his thoughts a few steps further.  Individuals have the tendency to connect the strongest with those who are involved in the same struggles and who are fighting the same battles.  For instance, students in the same hard class will often connect and share things that are going on in each other's lives.  Workers who are struggling with management will unite and feel connected not only towards their common goal, but also with each other.  What all of us forget on a very regular basis is that humanity connects all individuals on earth.  We are all human, made of the same components, living here in the same world.  This should be a greater source of connection than any class or workers' strike.  Time needs to be taken to understand and listen to each other.  Although we might not be directly affected by the events that take place in other parts of the world, we cannot forget that we are connected to these people as well because we are all human, and through this we should be willing to help them get through whatever struggle is in front of them.  The analogy that Lewis makes between his house and society says all of this in a much more powerful way.

To continue with the theme, such commonplace things such as music can be our greatest sources of hope.  I think that many young people in the world now are very affected by the music of today, but maybe not as much in the way that we would like.  But the songs that are filled with hope are out there, we just have to find them and listen to them with our hearts wide open.  I try to pick songs that will accentuate my good moods and calm my bad ones, giving me a source of hope that no matter what is wrong at that current moment, there is a better time to come.  I do not and should not have to harbor inside of me whatever is making me uneasy, and through song as well as other sources, my mind is calmed and my hope is restored.

I could readily identify with many of the stories and ideas that were presented within these four chapters.  Hope does not have to happen on a grand scale, but only needs the right recipe to succeed and touch lives.

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