Towards the end of 2025, I would tell people that surely the coming year would be better than 2025 was — at least nationally. But in fact, things have only gotten worse. Many of us are feeling more helpless and more hopeless than we’ve felt in a long time, may even ever. How do we “keep hope alive” during times like this? How do we protect ourselves from despair? Where do we find the courage to keep resisting the atrocities we are witnessing?

Rev. Anne Felton Hines has served UU congregations in Southern California since 1984. Emerson UU Church in Canoga Park granted her Minister Emerita status upon her official retirement in 2014. She is currently president of the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the ACLU, serves on the Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee of the Retired Ministers UUMA, volunteers weekly as a pianist at Kaiser Woodland Hills Medical Center, and spends as much time as possible with her children and grandchildren.