 |
| "Hope" in many languages |
Faith. Hope. Love.
All three very important to be sure. However, I think "hope" tends to get the short end of the stick as compared to "faith" and "love". We hear all about faith and love. But hope...well, not nearly as much.
All three very important to be sure. However, I think "hope" tends to get the short end of the stick as compared to "faith" and "love". We hear all about faith and love. But hope...well, not nearly as much.
But..it is hard to have faith, hope and love or practice one without the other two. All three are inescapably intertwined with one another.
I took this photo (to the left) of the "HOPE plaque" posted at the Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona. It is the word hope in many languages. How many languages can you decipher?
Or, in how many languages can you say hope? (See below for "hope" in many languages translated.)
Or, in how many languages can you say hope? (See below for "hope" in many languages translated.)
What is it about hope? For starters, it implies something is not right or totally perfect in the present, here and now. It implies the future. For example, we hope things will someday be better.
Hope is also associated with suffering...from the most great to lesser forms.
Hope is also associated with suffering...from the most great to lesser forms.
Remember the story of Pandora's Box in Greek mythology? When Pandora opened her box, all the good spirits escaped except hope, who stayed behind to comfort humankind.
Yes, hope suddenly becomes VERY important when.... you or a loved one are in the hospital, or dealing with illness and or injury. Or you are far away from home, such as on a deployment on the other side of the planet, hoping to come home someday. And or if you are unemployed or underemployed, we hope to find a good job! And on it goes.
Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl talks about the importance of hope in his book Man's Search For Meaning. While imprisoned and starving in the concentration camp, he observed that no matter how starved and emaciated, those that held on to hope, the hope they would someday be free, someday see their loved one's again, stayed alive and survived. But the one's who lost hope and gave in to despair, were usually dead in a day or two...even the people who still had their health. Yes, the people that kept hope alive, stayed alive and survived.
Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl talks about the importance of hope in his book Man's Search For Meaning. While imprisoned and starving in the concentration camp, he observed that no matter how starved and emaciated, those that held on to hope, the hope they would someday be free, someday see their loved one's again, stayed alive and survived. But the one's who lost hope and gave in to despair, were usually dead in a day or two...even the people who still had their health. Yes, the people that kept hope alive, stayed alive and survived.
I believe hope is key to life. Real life. And I mean really being alive, really living, not just existing.
Hope is future oriented and it is positive. But it is much more than wishful thinking.
What is the difference you may ask? Well, just as there is a difference between happiness and joy, so as with wishful thinking and hope.
Hope is future oriented and it is positive. But it is much more than wishful thinking.
What is the difference you may ask? Well, just as there is a difference between happiness and joy, so as with wishful thinking and hope.
In a world where despair, anxiety, stress, negativity, fear and worry pound us from all angles...
What we need is a spirituality of HOPE.
And what is a spirituality of hope?
 |
| Faith, Hope, Love and St. Sophia icon |
Hope anticipates, has expectation, inspires trust, helps give us confidence and inner peace.
And in a world of economic crises, wars, violence, distress, illness, fear and disease... we all need a spirituality of hope. Yes, it takes work. It takes a lot of work. Hope is not easy. It takes focus and energy. You really have to work at it.
And I will be working on a spirituality of hope...all the rest of my days.
"Hope" in many languages...
ελπίδα (elpsis) in Greek, esperanza in Spanish, أمل (amal) in Arabic, hopp in Swedish, आशा (asha) in Hindi, надеяться (nadezhda) in Russian, habe in Danish, hoffnung in German, speranta in Romanian, speranza in Italian, espoir in French, 希望 (zi wang) in Chinese, תִקוָה (tikvah) in Hebrew, harapan in Indonesian, 바람 (himang) in Korean, spes in Latin, kibou in Japansese, umut in Turkish, remény in Hungarian, seehazin in Navajo,امید (omid) in Farsi (Persian), toi hy vong in Vietnamese, ความหวัง (khwam hwang) in Thai, pag asa in Tagalog (Filipino), hoop in Afraikaans, toivoa in Finnish, nadzieja in Polish, haper in Norwegien... and on it goes!
"For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord..." Psalm 71.5
"Endurance produces character, and character produces hope...and hope does not disappoint us..." Romans 5.4-5
"Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer." Romans 12.12
"May the God of hope fill us with all joy and peace in believing through the power of the Holy Spirit ". (Romans 15:13)
Emily Dickinson:
ReplyDelete“Hope” is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all -
And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -
And sore must be the storm -
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm -
I’ve heard it in the chillest land -
And on the strangest Sea -
Yet - never - in Extremity,
It asked a crumb - of me.