I am not superstitious. But as fires rip through communities around LA, it is hard not to feel uneasy about 2025.

Five days after they packed up their Christmas goodies, hugged us good-bye and headed home, our daughter and her husband are living in a hotel. They are among the estimated 180,000 people who have had to evacuate. Their town of Altadena is smoldering ash. Miraculously, their house and its immediate neighborhood were spared. They are the fortunate ones. Thousands are homeless, left with nothing.

The scene is like something out of a disaster movie or maybe a war. The hurricane-force winds had calmed down and the Eaton fire had moved on by Thursday afternoon, nonetheless, little fires kindled here and there. Stunned residents stood amid the ruins and couldn’t even cry it was such a shock. Police closed off areas because of looting. A curfew has been enacted, and the National Guard is moving in to help bolster the ranks of exhausted emergency workers. The Santa Ana winds are expected to increase again and all the fires are continuing to spread. Uncertainty is the only constant.

Given the immensity of this disaster, how do we move forward with any hope at all?

Personally, I am thankful our family is safe. Their friends offered a place to stay as they hurriedly left home. Dozens of our friends and family have been praying God would calm the winds and lives would be spared.

Beyond that, there have been glimpses of what I believe will pull the region through it all. A man talked about being hugged by a neighbor he’d never met as they shared a moment in their devastated neighborhood. Several people told reporters about staying near their homes armed only with garden hoses. They were determined to save what they could and were proud they had saved neighbors’ houses even if they couldn’t save their own. A worker from an assisted living home in Altadena carried 20 people from their rooms to safety. That building eventually burned.

We must keep our eyes on these moments. Restoration may not look exactly the way we think it should look. But it is definitely not going to look like the ridiculous conspiracy theories that are flooding the airways and social media. Don’t give those stories any oxygen. Don’t repost them on Facebook. Like a fire, they eat through every resource, they contribute to dangerous misinformation, and they can reduce lives to ruins.

Conversely, hope is life giving. It is confidence. Confidence in the intrinsic good of humanity. Confidence that each new day offers a chance of renewal.

When we share the burden, the weight of disaster becomes a little easier to carry.

If you are a person of faith, hope is something more. It is confidence that God has the power and authority to overcome any challenge you face. And that His intentions toward you are good.

So cling to hope. Look for evidence that good will prevail. Celebrate the most minor victories. Hug and be hugged. Weep with those who mourn.  When we share the burden, the weight of disaster becomes a little easier to carry.

I thought it was ironic that Thursday also was a National Day of Mourning for President Jimmy Carter. He lived one of my favorite verses, Micah 6:8. Throughout his long life, he acted justly, loved mercy and walked humbly. He offered hope to thousands around the world with his and the Carter Center’s efforts to protect democracy and fair elections, to eradicate disease and to foster peace.

He and Rosalynn Carter gave hope to more than 4,000 families by helping construct homes through Habitat For Humanity.

As thousands grieve and cling to whatever shred of hope they can find, President Carter’s life offers us an example of how to live hopefully.