For Christians this is "Holy Week" which leads up to "Good Friday".
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“It was the worst of times; it was the best of times.”
My Street Lit colleagues will be delighted that (even if I inverted the order) I have turned to Charles Dickens for my opening quote. That is because all the Denis Hurley Centre’s homeless booksellers are great fans of the Victorian novelist who wrote more evocatively of the complexity of cities than anyone else.
Readers might immediately concur with the first half of the quote. After all, when reading or watching the news, or doom-scrolling through social media, you could easily conclude that we are living in an age of misery.
Driving past a fuel station today and seeing the astronomical new prices might be the final confirmation. So on what basis can I claim it is also "the best of times"?
As a person of faith, and someone with an optimistic nature, I will always try to find hope in the face of despair. And these have been a period of a few weeks in which the great faiths have been reminding us of reasons to have hope.
Last week, our Muslim brothers and sisters were overflowing with the joy of celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr after the self-sacrifices of Ramadaan. Today, our Jewish fellow-citizens will be marking Passover – which remembers the delivery of the ancient Israelites from out of slavery. And for Christians this is "Holy Week" which leads up to "Good Friday".
We are so used to that term that its oddness might not be noticed. But what is "good" about the day in which Christians recall the cruel torture and death experienced by their saviour, Jesus of Nazareth? For Christians, it is good because, if Jesus had not died, he could not have risen again on Easter Sunday.
And as that celebration erupts in our city this weekend, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness will also be leading the Hindu community in the wonderful Festival of Chariots on the beachfront.
In my work at the Denis Hurley Centre, I have plenty of reasons why I could feel down: the senseless violence of a private security company against homeless people, the ongoing illegal exclusion of patients from our hospitals, or the relentless poverty that means that so many young people will not achieve their potential. But my faith – and the faith of others – reminds me that we can always find hope.
And we owe to our fellow Durbanites to look for hope and share hope most especially with those who have least. Whether homeless or helpless, we do not have to be hopeless. So find an opportunity this week to share with others something that is giving you hope, and we can turn the worst of time into the best of times.