faith in humanity

I have recently decided that I firmly dislike the statement “this restores my faith in humanity!”  “Don’t I like having my faith in humanity restored?” you may ask.  The response I have discovered within myself; I don’t think I ever need to lose it.

You could spend your entire day surrounding yourself with the Negative; stories of war, rape, suicide, hatred, greed and depravation, and become despairingly cynical and apathetic.  You could also spend your entire day surrounded by the Positive; stories of kindness, selflessness, creativity, community, inspiration and ingenuity, and become blissfully ignorant and apathetic.

Your intention will determine the information and stories that are drawn to your awareness, as well as your reaction.  But the world is complex, and includes the depths of tragedy, the exhilaration of benevolence, and the mediocrity in between.

This complexity is woven into everything.  If you own an Apple product, it may have been made by a 12 or 13-year-old, or someone who committed suicide because of conditions of working for Foxconn.  That FDA-approved piece of “food” product you just fed yourself and your family is slowly but surely creating cancer and other issues within your bodies, because the people in the FDA once worked for the corporations they are supposed to be regulating, and don’t actually ensure safety.  That thing you bought at Walmart or Target was made overseas by someone who is underpaid, has taken jobs from the U.S., and the dollars spent on it went to further support the Monopolies we are allowing to take over our country.  We can’t afford to buy local because we have allowed corporations to market things we don’t need to us at prices no small business can afford to compete with.  There are so many things we can access that are pleasing to us and seem good, but whose roots are growing in injustice and exploitation.

It’s depressing.  The Big Picture’s roads all seem to lead to systemic and systematic oppression.  Sometimes it overwhelms me, makes me want to give up on the world, and give up on my place in it.  Sometimes I just want to get in bed and never get out.

But the Small Pictures are what keep my faith in humanity.

The Small Pictures are limited, but faithful.  Habitat for Humanity can’t build and sell houses to everyone who needs one, but it can benefit many families and individuals who would never have qualified for a normal mortgage.  Homeless and women’s shelters can’t help every homeless person or every woman in an abusive situation, but they help many people who would otherwise be stuck.  Intentional communities don’t always work long-term, but the folks choosing to live in them and invest in one another are a reminder that we don’t have to resign ourselves to the individualism of the American bootstrap myth.  Every dog and cat won’t be rescued into a good home, but there are many animals who have been adopted because of the dedication of people working at shelters and as advocates for adoption.  Everyone won’t start to buy local, but as the options increase, so will the number of times that people like you and I choose to go to the farmer’s market instead of Walmart or Food Lion, or choose to buy from a festival vendor or a local artisan instead of going to the mall.

All of that to say this:  there are many reasons to always keep “faith in humanity”.

The bad things that happen do not negate the good.  Your faith in humanity should not exist for a few seconds a week when you see an inspiring story, and then turn to unbelief the rest of the time.  Nor should you ignore the many and varied wrongs that keep humanity in a cycle of oppression and oppressing, in favor of only idyllic stories.  Everyone has to find his or her own balance, and I hope (and urge) that the common goal will be to avoid apathy.

We may not be able, on an individual scale, to change the entire world.  But we can advance change!  It may just be in your local community; it may even just be one family or one person you know, but each of us can be the change we want to see.  I can’t get everyone in Chatham County into safe, decent, affordable housing, but I did recently have a part in helping three families move in the next step toward homeownership.  One of those families (a single mom with two sons) has been living for 6 years in a trailer that is literally falling apart.  In the next few months, they will work together with Habitat staff and volunteers on their house, and they will purchase and move into a home of their own.  That’s real.  That’s tangible.  That changes lives.  And that is humanity working together for good.

I think perhaps a better phrase than "restoring" our faith in humanity should be this.  “This reminds me of my faith in humanity!”