Jane and I spent two happy days with our friends at the annual conference of Concerned Philosophers for Peace. Like all other such gatherings during the pandemic we met on Zoom, and though we couldn't hug, touch or shake hands we could smile, laugh, cry, and sing together. And like all such events ours was overshadowed by the severity of the pandemic and the social and political problems we all face. Philosophers often get serious together—thinking through issues, peeling away layers, agonizing over solutions. We all agreed we have been through a storm, with the thunder clouds still swirling to the left and right of us. Looking at the sky it's by no means certain that the storm is over.
Cayuga lake is 45 miles long. Our town of Ithaca lies at the southern tip of the lake. You can see a summer storm coming as you gaze in wonder up the lake. As the clouds build threateningly far in the distance the divide between sun in the south and darkness in the north is as clear as night and day. And there is not much to do. Sensibly you take shelter and watch and wait. As the storm approaches you notice its nearness first in the trees as the wind picks up ahead of the impending deluge. Then the flood, and the noise, and the lightning. The threatened destruction is real. Branches are blown as if mere twigs. Whole trees come down. Your shelter shakes.
And then silence.
The freshness after a summer storm is intoxicating. Steam rises off the road as the sun warms again. The pungency of newly watered earth and foliage overwhelms. You want to dance after a storm.
Storms are ambiguous.
A storm's destruction is more than a threat. Yet the storm brings rain and allows new growth. We don't welcome the storm, but the storm is nature's way of renewal. The storm's ambiguity is ultimately hopeful.
One of the themes of our conference was hope. Hope is dark times is difficult to find. John Dewey considered belief to be "warranted assertability." We make truth claims for good reasons. "Just believe" for no good reason seems a foolish strategy. In our age of misinformation people "just believe" all manner of silly ideas. Dewey's notion is a much needed correction. Believe when you have good reasons to believe, or not at all.
At our conference I wondered whether hope is like belief. Hoping for the best when there are no good reasons to hope might be mere whistling in the wind. But nature is ever hopeful. Calm after storms. New life after destruction. Spring after winter. Always hopeful. It's not merely wishful thinking, but a central principle of the way things are.
When a storm threatens preparations are necessary. When a storm hits, protection is needed. Only the foolish stay in the water when the lightning storm arrives. Wisdom is essential. But the storm is never the end of the story.
Take precautions, wait patiently, new life will happen for sure.
+Ab. Andy