Cloister Notes

Cloister Notes

Share this post

Cloister Notes
Cloister Notes
Election Blues: Hoping against Despair
Letters to America

Election Blues: Hoping against Despair

Letters to America #2: Three prescriptions for all who are stressed out with the (election) news cycle.

Almut | The Weary Pilgrim's avatar
Almut | The Weary Pilgrim
Oct 06, 2024
∙ Paid
25

Share this post

Cloister Notes
Cloister Notes
Election Blues: Hoping against Despair
14
5
Share

Taking in a last paddle up north. (All photos by A. Furchert)


Friends and fellow pilgrims,


“What meaningful can I still do?” a German client desperately asked me several weeks ago in face of the never ending conflicts on this planet. “What meaningful can I do?,” many Americans ask these days facing another US election. “Will my vote make a difference?,” or: “Will we ever recover from this cycle of blame and hatred and division?”

In-midst of this climate of fearful anticipation I am reminded of Krista Tippet’s: “We must insist on joy…,” as she wrote in one of her letters:

“Whatever is before us, we must insist on joy wherever and whenever we can find it, must honor creaturely release and comfort and delights, for these are our human birthright of fuel for persisting, for orienting insistently towards what is life-giving, within every righteous struggle that is ours to face.”

And I am grateful for these words as they offer me a life line to hang on to. Joy is not just a feeling, it is a life giving necessity. We must honor it and cradle it and persist on it.

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Cloister Notes to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Almut Furchert
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share