On a day when our hearts are heavy with the tragic (yet sadly unsurprising) discovery at the Kamloops Residential School site, Simon was asked to speak to over 3000 students from across Calgary about hope as part of the Mayor’s Environmental Expo.
It’s been a dark stretch for our world and, for our country, these are indeed dark days. In times like these, it’s difficult to find hope and easy to feel hopeless. It’s hard to speak of hope and offer hope.
But when hope feels lost? That’s when we must remind each other that hope isn’t a right or a given, as odd as that might sound. It’s something that we must aspire to and work for. Each one of us. Each day.
How? By being willing to listen and learn from all peoples and all life – and then not just reflecting on what makes us feel hopeless, but actually taking the next step of acting; trying to be better and do better.
We might fail. We might not. But in trying there is a next step. And in anticipation of taking a better step forward, we can find hope and offer other hope. And with hope, we can believe in better tomorrows. More importantly, when we believe in better tomorrows, we can actually create them.
And today? We need a better tomorrow.
We know, in your own way, you’re trying to make this so. We are too.
Let’s keep trying – together – and let us remember, when we doubt our world, that there are so many of us trying for better tomorrows and who will continue to try for better tomorrows, no matter how many setbacks we face.
And that is the very definition of hope.