As the Presidential election continues, I remain certain of one thing. Despair is not the answer. The reading from Habakkuk and the 95th Psalm suggest a more appropriate answer.

The Lord’s response to Habakkuk’s plea for help in the face of violence and misery is to tell him, “Wait for it”? Wait for the vision, for justice, for healing and relief from misery. Is that all we’re to do? To wait passively in our distress? The answer is no. The Psalmist makes clear what we are to do: Remember that the Lord is our God and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides. And to respond joyfully with thanksgiving.

We might not be able to change the tone and tenor of this season, but nothing stops us from choosing how we respond, how we live in these times. In “The Story of My Experiments with Truth,” Mahatma Gandhi stated, “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won.” We Christians can modify this slightly and make this sentiment ours: the Way, the Truth, and the Life always wins.

—Fr. Martin Connell, S.J. serves John Carroll University, University Heights, OH, as professor of education. He is also the Rector of the Jesuit community there.