What is hope? How
you answer this question will clearly impact the way you choose to live and how
you face both good and tough times in life! According to Wikipedia hope is the following:
Hope is an
optimistic attitude of mind that is based on an expectation of positive
outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at
large.
A well-known Christian pastor, John Piper, says the following about hope:
Our hope in God isn't just a wish or a dream, but
a sure confidence that what God says will happen.
Common belief held by many is that what is most important in
life is to believe in something,
Most
people understand hope as wishful
thinking, as in "I hope something will
happen."
I was recently talking to a couple of
friends who were at the end of their proverbial rope? One had threaten to
physically hurt themselves and another friend responded to this individual’s
cry for help. Sadly, no help came the way of the distressed individual. Another
friend had hit a wall where everything seemed to go south between job,
apartment, friends and any sense of hope or help in sight. Another friend had a
difficult time believing that God was someone who loved them and would care
about helping. Unfortunately, this friend truly believed that God caused all
the crap in his/her life.
As I reflect on a few friends who are
at the verge of taking their own lives is it possible for them to have the
vitality, energy and zest to change their circumstances? I try not to chuckle
at the person who says the following mantra that what matters most is that you
believe in something. Doesn’t matter what, it’s more the act of just believing.
As a philosophical junkie that got a degree in said topic believing in the
imaginary pink elephant in the room isn’t going to make tomorrow any better. So,
what is it that gives some people the ability to rise above the most horrible
circumstances and become the change agent in their lives?
The pragmatist side of me cries out
that hope must be more than just a feeling that things always get better. The
downside of my life was watching my mom die a slow death as she fought cancer
for 8 years. The difficulty was that my prayers and the prayers of my larger
circle of friends didn’t get answered according to my will. Yet, my life lesson
through this tragic saga was that my mom taught me about hope both in this life
and the life to come.
Realized hope according to my mom’s
living example was to not allow present tense life, regardless of how good or
bad it is to stop you from committing to trust God, not circumstances, to give
you the reason and zest to keep going with a positive attitude. Hope ultimately is having a confidence in
something or someone beyond you. I know that for some it’s easy to put hope in
our own abilities until we falter or quit.
The difficulty for my friends who have
given up on God or who have never had a belief in a higher power is that they
end up becoming their only help in life. So, what is hope in this life for this
person that could be you? I know a few things in life are certain beyond death
and taxes, the sun will come up tomorrow, thanks to Orphan Annie or bigger
picture for many is that mankind overall is basically good, except for the
various communist tyrants in power?
I know that for many today their life
motto becomes live life to the fullest each day because tomorrow might not
come. Jean Paul Sartre, one of the great existentialist, initially affirmed his
live life anyway you want until the war impinged on his life. Yes, taking sides
in a war does become a moral issue as to whether there is such a thing as right
and wrong.
So, yes having a real hope in life does
matter and make a difference! The real question is what path are you following
in life will determine whether you have a living HOPE based upon the ONE who
created the universe!
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