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Do You Have Hope?
Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.
—Emily Dickinson
All hope abandon, ye who enter here.
—Canto III, Dante’s Inferno
Emily Dickinson led a quiet, reclusive life, and yet she believed that hope is always available to us. The quote from the Inferno, of course, describes one’s entrance to hell. The latter quote speaks of darkness, the former points to light.
In these difficult times of violence, death, fear, chaos, and cultural erosion, it’s easy to see ourselves on the brink of hell. We may, in fact, be there (figuratively speaking — I hope). But even in the worst of times, we have a choice about how we hold our lives, how to experience them, move through them and honor them. For those of you who are basically optimists, you probably have an easier time believing this statement about choice. For those who are basically pessimists, you more than likely believe I’m a Pollyanna. Our worldviews determine where we stand, whether we abandon hope or celebrate life. And I think hope is part of that celebration.
It is easy to allow myself to thrash in the muck, protesting all the injustices, and simply give up. It’s much, much more difficult to step out of that ugly swamp and choose to see opportunity, blessings, and hope. I feel that it is my religious and moral obligation as an American to step into the light and look forward to possibility.
So I have specific hopes, community and global. I wish good health for my husband in spite of his bronchial and lung condition. I hope that we find a way to steer misguided and disenfranchised young Muslims in this country to more constructive possibilities. I hope that somehow the Saudi-Iran tension gets resolved in a constructive way.
Do you have hope?
Published in General, Religion & Philosophy
I bought a Powerball ticket so I either have hope or a low IQ.
Ok, it could be both.
If someone wants to build a case that the world is worse off than it’s ever been, they can find data to support that conclusion. If someone wants to build the opposite case, they can also find data to support theirs. I happen to think that although the process is slow (measured in decades and centuries, not days and months) – and sometimes reverses itself temporarily – humanity is working to become more civilized and more prosperous.
My first wife referred to me as a Pollyanna because I didn’t agree with her viewpoint that life on Earth has been getting progressively more wretched ever since the Garden of Eden.
I’m with you, Randy! When we look at the whole picture and don’t get stuck in the present, it’s really amazing to see where we are.
Absolutely. We don’t know the future. There are rational grounds for hope. Where there’s life, there’s hope.
Despair is a crime.
LOL, so did I!
Great post Susan. As a Christian I’m required to have hope. It’s fundamental. To modify what Claire just said above, despair is a sin, a mortal sin for Catholics.
While I don’t have despair, I can’t say I’m always all that hopeful. I guess it depends on the issue. Frankly this country is going to hell in a handbasket. The Obama administration has been horrible, the worst. Electing Trump or Hillary could hurt us even more, and they have the best shots right now. Still, I would say I’m cautiously optimistic. The economic doldrums can be fixed; the war on terror, while difficult to categorically win, does not present us an existential threat, in my opinion. But it has to be won, and it has to be won with troops on the ground, and unfortunately that will mean deaths.
We can turn this around with the right leadership, but I’m not sure the right leadership will materialize.
Now as to the soul of the country, I don’t know. I see a lot of brokenness around. And with atheism on the rise, I don’t see how that changes.
I agree. We all have so much to offer, and when we get lost in the darkness, there is no desire to reach out and help.
You are so right. The irony is that we have to be both realistic and hopeful; it takes strength and commitment to do that.
I’ve been watching The Roosevelts PBS series, and it has a lot of actual real footage of the suffering before and during World War II. On December 16, 1944, Roosevelt got word that 19,000 American soldiers had perished at the Battle of the Bulge. You can see the strain in his face, and in the faces of those around him. D-Day had occurred on June 6, 1944, and many had hoped the assault would speed the end of the war. According to FDR’s biographers as quoted in the series, the Allied generals didn’t envision the war lasting until September 1945. The news of the Battle of the Bulge must have been nearly unbearable for FDR. Yet he continued to express in faith in Almighty God. If FDR can hope, I can too. :) :)
It’s hard to know if atheism is truly on the rise, or if it’s just more socially acceptable now, allowing non-believers to come out of the closet. If you live in a society where people look at you as if you are a sicko for calling yourself an atheist, a lot of atheists are going to call themselves Christian and say they just don’t go to church very much.
Absolutely. I think, too, of the Jews and others who lost family in the Holocaust. Many lost hope in G-d. And that has carried on for many whose families were lost. So the challenge of maintaining hope tests us, to one degree or another.
Unless you are on the left. Then being an atheist is worn as a badge of honor. Haven’t the studies of the number of people who believe in God remained pretty consistent?
I doubt they’re on the rise. The number is probably small, it’s just atheists are pretty loud.
“For an optimist, life is full of disappointments, but for a pessimist, life is full of pleasant surprises.” (Paraphrased – I think I found that in a Nero Wolfe novel.)
I lean towards a rather dour view myself, but mostly I try to see the world as it is, rather than what I wish it would be. Reality has to be dealt with on its own terms, though I would add reality includes the risen Christ, and a loving God who has a purpose for a fallen creation. To put it another way, I’m pretty sure that we’re doomed, but also that victory is assured, and has already been won.
Great juxtaposition of those two quotes. The Dickinson my favorite in all the world. I do try. I want that little songster always in my heart. Some days it’s harder than others. My husband, too, has “issues”. Let us face into the headwinds with the courage and hope that my recently deceased 96 year-old aunt always displayed. I commented on her daughter in-laws Facebook that Phyllis was was indomitably positive. She responded that truer words could not be said. I always envied Phyllis this attribute, even at the times when it almost seemed inappropriate.
I have optimism. And faith.
Sometimes I hope, and other times, wallow. There’s an unlikely book my sister found in an unlikely place – somewhere in the mountains in a thrift shop, under a pile….I found a copy after she said it was a must read. It’s called Faith Can Master Fear by G. Ernest Thomas published around 1950 – I found a used copy – it is well worth reading.
It covers every kind of fear which is the antithesis of hope. I guess you can have both at the same time, but one wins out eventually. The Bible is based on hope -every lesson imaginable – because more often the odds were against the Israelites fleeing Egypt, against slaying a giant, against escaping slavery, yet hope was always present – how could that be? We can learn so much from that.
I also think that youth are eternally hopeful (at least they used to be) – while as we age, we become less hopeful. So we need help, and taking inspiration from those that have overcome difficulties and see wonder in little things like kids do they don’t worry about a rainy day – they splash in the puddles. My friend is in her early 50’s and adopted two little siblings from India – it took her 4 years – everyone discouraged her – she persevered. She’s single and now they are the joy of her life and her family. They are funny, fun loving, fast learners.
Animals also bring hope to many, there are several volunteers who take pets to nursing homes and hospice. I can’t imagine not having a pet – furry angels. We need God, and each other.
That is awesome!
I think this view is constructive–rose-colored glasses are no help at all. At the same time, I think that having hope isn’t contrary to that view. It’s wonderful to see how people’s faith and worldview come together, Belt.
My uncle was like that, too. He was my role model for bringing light into the world, and I miss him, too. The E. Dickinson post I know from a little watercolor that a sister at a retreat center in CA made.
With a creed and passion like this one, Barkha, you can only win! Do you have a favorite on the list?
Fortunately, when we’ve had enough of wallowing, we can move to hope and let in G-d and the light. Wonderful sharing, FSC!
When I look into my grandchildren’s eyes, I find hope. My six year old granddaughter has wonders at her fingertips. She can ask a question and gets answers from the collected works of mankind in a second. She saw her Dad survive a cancer that would have been sure death for my dad when I was her age. Her little sister has a stuffed bear that engages in voice recognition and holds conversations with her. She assumes all entertainment can be paused and recalled for her convenience. At age 6, she has seen Hawaii and New York City and places in between.
She assumes things that I would have thought miraculous at her age.
She will have hardship and things will cause pain, I expect, but imagine the things her children will take for granted.
We just need to keep the civilization mostly hanging together.
I have hope. It is a necessity.
What we can learn from the little ones. You are so blessed.
They all have their places and time.
That’s a really good comment FSC. By the way, we (my wife and I) have a dog, a cat, an more importantly an adopted son.
I distinguish between hopeful and optimistic.
Hope is a virtue, and, as Manny said, a requirement of our faith.
Optimism, on the other hand seems to discount original sin, the basic fact of human existence.
I’m not particularly optimistic because my hope is not in man, but I hope in God, who is eternal.
Mama Toad, I know what original sin is, but could you elaborate on the reasons you believe that optimism discounts original sin? I’m not disagreeing, but I’m not a Christian and I’d like to know how you see that.
Optimism seems to imply one thinks everything will work out for the best and that most things are basically nice. In the face of suffering, optimism is useless, and even foolish. Happy talk.
Hope is something different, that says the suffering can have meaning, that it is not the true state of mankind, that God exists.
I’d never thought of it that way, but I even checked it out on Wiktionary after I asked you, and you’re in agreement. I’ve always thought of myself as an optimist: I tend to have a positive outlook on life, remind myself of the beauty and love around me when life seems so dark. That’s not optimistic, I now realize; it’s realistic. I agree that suffering can have meaning, but not always, and we may not always know what that meaning is; only God knows.