Today is the time to unite for hope.

“A government that has become severed from its paternal energy will afflict and sicken not only human lives and society but also the nature of its own land. From this rupture, neglect and corruption, Noah’s flood will come—a storm that will destroy everything. The inevitable destiny of such a society is war, chaos and natural disaster.”

Nearly six years have passed since I wrote these sentences. Sadly, the storm arrived and there was no escaping it. Even if war had not come, the storm would have arrived.

At the moment of a storm, every future one can imagine is filled with potential fears, while the world of politics and power is filled with actual lies and deception. Our choice is never simply between this or that.

In this storm, our vessel of rescue is Iran and the people who are aboard it. Those who did not choose this vessel and helped bring about the storm are inevitably not truly aboard it. Even if you extend your hand toward them, they will not take it.

This is neither the first nor the last storm in our history. For thousands of years we have lived in the heart of storms, and each time, through trust and love for our vessel, we have reached the safe shore of the future. This time too we will arrive. Board the vessel of Iran with hope and faith. We will reach the shore of the future.

In these difficult days our compatriots are experiencing genuine hardship: bank accounts that are empty; services, food and medicine all in crisis. What paths exist through which we can help our compatriots? If you know a way, share it in the comments—whether for people inside Iran to help one another or for what compatriots outside Iran can do. Difficult days will pass, and the narrative of love and unity is what will remain. Another Nowruz will come.