(RNS) — Norman Wirzba was not expecting that his book of essays about hope would land the week before Donald Trump scored a decisive victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.
But the Duke theologian who writes about the environment is no stranger to contemplating upheavals, whether climate disasters, war, genocide or the excesses of finance capitalism. His new book, “Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis,” offers meditations on all these cataclysms and how individuals found ways through them.
Again and again, he returns to the theme of finding hope in the yearning for a more loving world, one that propels people to give to others and to sustain the earth’s creative life forces. Those hopes are not sentimental or naive. He writes about people who have gone through immense pain and suffering but have found a way to stay engaged and involved with others.
“Life’s mysteries and splendors, what we might call its ever-fresh potential, are discovered as people work to be genuinely with each other, and in this work, nurture and strengthen the bonds that join them,” Wirzba writes.
RNS spoke to Wirzba on the day after the presidential election. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why did you want to write a book on hope?
Hope is one of those really big words that I think is really important in a cultur …