“Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don’t give up.”
My brother’s favorite musical is Les Miserables. If you don’t know the story, I encourage you to watch it on Netflix. Enduring Russel Crowe’s singing voice is worth it.
The last scene is deeply moving. It’s the Epilogue sung by the whole cast that does it. The chorus rises with,
Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light
For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise
For those of us who’ve had dark nights, the promise of sunrise is powerful. It’s the hope Harvey Dent had when he said, “The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you the dawn is coming.” It’s the hope of salvation so many of us find in our faith in Jesus.
We’re living in the long night in Illinois. Cashless bail, graphic pornography in school libraries, crushing inflation, it feels hopeless. That’s where we come in.
Let’s take Lamatt’s words to heart. It’s time to organize and get to work. It’s time to bring the sunrise. Are you ready?
