I found this today and couldn’t resist sharing. Dorothy Day was born on November 8, 1897.
This reflection is from a 2021 blogpost by Jim Forest, writer and activist who was a part of the Catholic Worker movement and knew Dorothy Day. He died less than a year after writing this remembrance as part of a retreat.
Dorothy Day was one of the most hopeful people I’ve ever known. She used to speak matter-of-factly of “the duty of hope.” For her, hope had nothing to do with optimism. Hope was not a mood or a state of mind that arose like a wildflower when spring arrived. Hope was as obligatory as breathing. I think it was from Dorothy that I first heard the proverb, “Even if I knew the world was going to end tomorrow, I would plant an apple tree today.”
Hope may be a duty but the duty of hope stands on a foundation of prayer, love and gratitude.
He writes movingly and with great affection about how Dorothy Day cultivated hope in daily life. She has much to teach us.
Photo: by Jim Forest/Flickr/Creative Commons license
