What does it mean to “have hope,” especially during challenging times? Is it something we can possess, like a talisman to ward off despair?

No, argues Norman Wirzba, distinguished professor of Christian theology at Duke and author of the new book Love’s Braided Dance: Hope in a Time of Crisis. Instead, “hope” is a verb—an action we have to do.

On this episode Wirzba explains how he manages to hope, even in the face of some of our most intractable problems—including war, migration, and the climate crisis.

For further reading: 

• Oscar Romero on politics and Christian love
• Vincent Miller on Pope Francis’s ecological hope
• Eric Miller on the fiction of Wendell Berry