I have been talking on the campaign trail about creating a politics of hope in Philadelphia.
I mean a few things by that phrase.
The Politics of Hope, Political Reform, and Public Policy
Mostly I mean that we have to overcome the low expectations we Philadelphians have for politics. We have to overcome the belief that real change—change that benefits all of us—is impossible. If we begin to have hope that politics can be transformed in our city, we will stop seeing politics as an arena in which we work for just ourselves or our own community. Instead we will work together for the political reform we desperately need. And we will fight for public policies that benefit everyone and that can finally realize the enormous potential of our wonderful city and region.
A politics of hope would, to begin with, be a politics in which the all the activism that keeps our neighborhoods and communities strong comes together to force our political leaders to address the common problems they so often ignore.
The Politics of Hope as a Spiritual Quest
But there is a deeper level to the politics of hope than this vision of reform and public policy. By a politics of hope I also mean a form of politics that brings about a spiritual transformation in people.
This is a notion that is easy to explain in abstract terms but, perhaps for that reason, it is hard to grasp how important it is. So let me tell you about the beautiful day I had two weeks ago, which reminded me why it sometimes makes sense to think of politics as a spiritual quest.
(That phrase, like the phrase politics of hope, I owe to a conversation with my friend Hannah Miller who has a wonderful ability to find the perfect words to articulate ideas we share.)
The Mummers Parade
It started at the Mummers parade as I walked from Tasker Street up to City Hall shaking hands and watching the scene. I love all parades and especially those that are a unique expression of the civic spirit of a city. What parade better fits that definition than our Mummer’s Parade? And I love being out on the street talking to people. Here in Philly people aren’t afraid to tell you what they think. There is a hunger to talk about politics. Much of our talk is cynical, of course. But our cynicism is really an expression of our thwarted ideals. In those hours on Broad Street, I learned a great deal about how politics is broken in Philadelphia and how much people would like to fix it.
The Anti-Casino Retreat
Then I went to the retreat of anti-casino activists. I was inspired by the intense energy and devotion of the sixty or seventy people who over a seven hour period developed inventive and plausible strategies for the next step in our struggle. Some of those people may have come to the meeting just to fight to protect their neighborhoods. But they left with a dedication to a political movement aimed at making the waterfront a place that serves all of Philadelphia.
Connecting to Others and Our Ideals in Politics
What do I mean when I say that politics can be a spiritual quest? I mean that politics can be a way of getting out of ourselves, of connecting our own aspirations to those of other people, to the ideals that animate us, and perhaps to a great power—you can call it God—that gives us the confidence that we will eventually realize those ideals.
When it is a spiritual quest, political activity can empower people to find the common good where they had once only seen conflict. And it can give people the strength to rise up together and challenge those who are oppressing them.
Politics as a spiritual quest does not give us epiphanies. That rarely happens to me in politics, except when someone gives me a really big campaign contribution ;). Sometimes, though, politics does give us a sense of connection to other people, whether it is in the street or at a meeting or rally.
Everyday Politics as a Spiritual Quest
More often, however, the spiritual side of politics is best described in a few lines from, I think, Dorothy Day that I read about thirty years ago. She talked about how our spiritual life is most often seen in the attention and devotion we bring to our every day activities and in the concern and care we give to those with whom we work.
Politics as a spiritual quest is found, in other words, in making speeches and stuffing envelopes, in developing issue papers and in making copies, in working on legislation and in handing out leaflets, in blogging—and maybe even in fundraising.
Politics and our Religious Life
And it is sometimes found in religious services, too. I had to leave the anti-casino meeting a bit early to attend a Bat Mitzvah. It was a wonderful, inspiring service for a really impressive young woman who is a friend of my daughter and also the daughter of our friends. It combined traditional and contemporary approaches to Jewish spirituality and brought to mind the moral ideals that are so central to the Judaism that is one source of my own political ethics.
And then, in another spiritual moment, we danced for hours to a wonderful band, with a kick-ass drummer who had a strong backbeat. They mostly played the great black (and black derived) music of the last thirty years. It didn’t have much directly to do with politics, of course, but it reminded me that politics as a spiritual quest draws a great deal of its strength from the deep connections people already have to one another—connections that are expressed as much in our music and dance as in our words and ideas. And then, when politics is at its best, when it really is a spiritual quest, it can strengthen and deepen those connections.
Forever Young
As I was falling asleep that night, I remembered one beautiful moment in the service where we sang a Bob Dylan song I had loved but had not heard for many years, Forever Young. It is a song Dylan wrote for the Bar Mitzvah of his son.
Thinking about it late at night reminded me of all the young (and young at heart) people I have met in the last few years—people outside the party and inside it, people in labor unions and social action groups, people in community groups and in the newspaper business—all the people whose energy and dedication and devotion, in other words, whose willingness to make politics a spiritual quest, is going to make Philadelphia a much better place.
I am grateful to know all of you spiritual questers, all of you who are working to create a politics of hope in Philadelphia. And I know that so long as we stay on this quest, we will all be Forever Young.
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.