Two Beautiful Daughters

Like many people, I find inspiration from The Colbert Report. The guest last night was Chris Hedges, who appeared to talk about his book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. [UPDATE: this program was a rerun from Feb. 8]

When asked about his apparent anger, Hedges stated: "I don't think anger is a bad thing. I mean, Augustine said hope has two children, anger and courage. Anger at the way things are and courage to make them better."

A Google search of St. Augustine to check out this quote revealed two things: One, a lot of people were watching Colbert and had the same reaction as I. Most of the hits referenced the show. Two, the more accurate translation states it thus:

"Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are."

When Mama found the Pathologies of Hope article, we posted it partially out of a growing frustration of media branding of the word, which alters meaning and robs nuance. Hope is frequently presented only as the option avaiable when doors of opportunity are blocked.

Augustine reminds us that hope is active, not passive.

Hearing these descriptions of the attributes of hope helped me realize part of the disenchantment that lead to posting the Ehrenreich article was, in my case, due to the presence of the anger but not of the courage.

There is plenty of courage, however. And I'm sure you can guess where it is: in Henry's heart, and with Mama beside him.

Meanwhile, Dad is left with his anger.

And, yes, hope.

- Dad