There will be numerous tributes and kind words written in honor of the life of Jane Goodall. She had an amazing presence. The closest I ever came to her was to hear her speak to an auditorium of over 1,700 people. She was an inspiration to each of us. At that point in her life, she was using her fame to travel extensively and promote environmental stewardship, as well as raise funds and awareness about various projects and programs she had initiated. She said she was traveling 300 days a year at that time, which amazed me. It is a pace that I know I couldn’t match. And she just kept going day after day, year after year. In the spring of 2024, when she turned 90, she celebrated not by gathering with family and friends to celebrate the occasion, but by granting interviews and raising funds to support the Jane Goodall Institute.

Her death allows me to reflect briefly on the nature of hope. Finding hope is a challenge in the chaotic world in which we live. It has been less than three months since another activist and scholar, Joanna Macy, passed away. Macy popularized the term the Great Unraveling” to describe the time in which we are living. Major systems are breaking down. We can no longer depend on the institutions of our society. As the world faces and struggles with its response to a looming global climate crisis, the systems to which previous generations turned to address crises are not providing the change that is needed. Cultural, economic, and political systems are also in unprecedented turmoil. Our environmental crisis and our social crisis are interconnected. The problems of society and environmental issues are interconnected. The climate crisis exacerbates social injustice. Income inequality and ecological destruction are in a dangerous loop. This is evident in the world’s consumption of petrochemicals. Gas and oil extraction profits a select few at the expense of the masses. A few people become very wealthy while others have less. At the same time, the increased use of petrochemicals contributes to global warming. More environmental destruction leads to greater economic injustice, and vice versa. It is indeed a “great unraveling.”

The current crisis, resulting from the shutdown of the government due to a failure to reach an agreement on spending, illustrates the crisis. The senators at the center of the crisis are connected to systems of wealth that are unaffected by the resolution of the crisis. While other governmental employees face financial crisis by being laid off or forced to work without pay. Those whose actions have created the situation continue to receive their paychecks. Their personal wealth continues to grow exponentially beyond the salaries they receive. Those tasked with solving the crisis are benefiting financially from the crisis. Whether the shutdown lasts days or weeks, average citizens are facing a decrease in health benefits and an increase in the out-of-pocket cost of care. More average citizens will face bankruptcy due to healthcare costs, regardless of how the crisis is resolved. The rich get richer. The poor get poorer.

Another aspect of the great unraveling is that we cannot see the outcome. While the trends are clear, we don’t know what will happen politically. Will the trend toward authoritarianism and the destruction of democracy continue? Will environmental destruction result in mass extinctions that include humans? We don’t know. We are entering a period that seems unpredictable, with catastrophic dangers surrounding us.

It would be easy to write about this great unraveling as an alarmist predictor of doom. Joanna Macy, however, did not respond that way. She wrote about hope. She wrote “Coming Back to Life” with Molly Brown, offering inspiration and meditations that empower readers. She wrote “Active Hope” with Chris Johnstone, inviting people to see hope as much more than an emotion. Hope involves finding the power to respond to the crisis that is before us. It is discovering how to become involved and to offer alternatives to despair.

As we grieve the deaths of these two great women, their lives invite us to move through grief to genuine hope. Both of these women engaged in work that has outlived them. Their lives continue to inspire new generations.

One of the gifts Jane Goodall has given the world is her “Roots and Shoots” program. Over 8,000 local groups in 140 countries worldwide involve more than 150,000 youth from preschool to university age in environmental, conservation, and humanitarian work. Since founding the organization, Goodall has taken the stories of children and youth to each of her audiences. She continued to tell the stories of the chimpanzees she had observed, but she also shared the stories of children who were directly involved in identifying local problems and solutions. Children are providing leadership by planting trees, conserving energy, protecting pollinators, mapping communities, learning and teaching land management, and participating in thousands of other projects.

One of the gifts of hope that Jane Goodall has given the world is her passion for empowering children and young people. Her work will continue long beyond the span of her life. Those young people will grow and share inspiration with future generations.

While rich and powerful senators argue about billions of dollars, children are planting trees. While billionaires extend their wealth despite inflation, pandemic, and economic collapse, children are building and deploying habitats for bees and other pollinators. While elders live on the border of despair, children are picking up and recycling trash. While health care systems are collapsing, children are creating green spaces in cities. Jane Goodall taught the world that anyone, anywhere, can make a difference for people, other animals, and the planet we share.

Jane Goodall was a charismatic leader at the center of a worldwide movement, but she never made the movement about herself. It was always about others. While we will miss her stories and inspirational writing, we know that the work she began continues. That ongoing work is a more eloquent testimony to a life well lived than any words I can write.