  Spiritual
This week: Edited by: Sophy  
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About this newsletter:
Hi, I'm Sophy ~ your editor for this edition of the Spiritual Newsletter. Since hope is such a central theme in writing, as well as a core part of most spiritual journeying, it's our theme for this week.
The Rev. Scotty McLennan, author of the book Finding Your Religion, compares humanity's innate need for spiritual searching to climbing a mountain. In his view, we are all endeavoring to climb the same figurative mountain in our search for the divine, we just may take different ways to get there. In other words, there is one "God," but many paths. I honor whatever path or paths you have chosen to climb that mountain in your quest for the Sacred.  |
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Hope
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.
~ Emily Dickenson
Hope is a waking dream. ~ Aristotle
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. ~ Barbara Kingsolver
My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope. ~ Ovid
Andy to Red in Shawshank Redemption:
Remember, Red. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
* * * * *
Hope. A simple word for something not so simple that can be found at the core of most spiritual paths. Hope is also a theme for much of spiritual writing -- in poems, stories, songs, novels, even movies and plays that may seem secular, but are actually very spiritual at their core because of their message of hope. Some of my favorite writings about hope? I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. The movie version of The Shawshank Redemption from a story written by Stephen King. The poem about Hope by Emily Dickinson, posted above.
We live in a world awash in resources in which the majority of people are homeless and hungry and naked. We live in a world in which random violence is the daily experience of millions, a world where nation rises up against nation, often in the name of God or religious differences. We live in a world in which prejudice and hatred inflict needless suffering and death on young and old, black and white, gay and straight.
We live in a world structured in such a way that whole generations and entire classes of human beings are treated as expendable, a world in which the "least among us" fear that future will be no better, while those who have much live in fear of the loss of what they have. We live in a world where cancer and AIDS and other disease invade our healthy bodies and cause great physical pain and fear. We live in a world where our hearts are broken and disappointed by love, where loved ones die, and hurricanes, floods, fires, and earthquakes destroy that which is precious to us.
And yet, within this broken, shattered, fragmented world in which we live our lives, we singularly and corporately go on, day in and day out. We rebuild our lives and our homes after devastation from natural disaster, we courageously face days of chemotherapy and radiation, and risk loving again after heartbreak. Why? Because for whatever reason, hope resides deep within our human psyche.
Let me define what I mean by "hope." First of all, I don't believe hope is necessarily the same as optimism. Optimism expects that everything will turn out all right in the end, that everything is ordered in the world for the best by some Divine Presence. It's that Pollyanna, pie-in-the-sky, glass is half full, let's make lemonade out of our lemons approach to life, that, while admirable, isn't always practical.
Hope is different ~ hope involves living in a spirit of expectation. It doesn't mean we are confident and certain and secure about the future, nor does it mean that we know that our judgments are right, nor does it mean we are sure that in the end our efforts will produce the results we are seeking. Rather, to live in hope is to be willing to get up out of bed and go through another day, refusing to say no even if all around us is coming apart.
Hope is also to be distinguished from expectation. Expectation can steal us from living in the present moment, pushing us further and further down the path of disappointment when things don't go our way. Hope, in contrast, is patient, willing to stay with us in the here and now, without specific expectation for a particular outcome, assuring us of a future which is open.
Hope is a strong driving force within people. "Hope which brings about change, which provides new realities, is what opens our road to freedom," says Oscar Arias. And Ruben Alvez says, "Hope is hearing the melody of the future." Thus for millions around the world, hope is the daily bread which feeds the souls and breeds the courage to continue in the face of poverty, disease, unemployment, and starvation.
To say it another way, hope is about starting over, refusing to say that the power of evil has the last word, affirming love over hate, life over death. Hope is the fuel which keeps us going, or, as Swiss Theologian Emil Bruner has said, "What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life." Hope is clinging to our conviction that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will never be overcome the light. It's as William Sloan Coffin has said, "Hope arouses us as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible."
Yet I am aware that many in our world live without hope. The darkness of their lives is overwhelming, and the mere mention of "hope" seems like a cruel joke. They can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, let alone have any hope that tomorrow just might be a better day. And thus, consumed by despair and hopelessness, they turn inward and fall further into the darkness, or perhaps they end their own lives, or lash out in violence against others.
So what is the difference between those who live IN hope and those who live without it? Is it that particularly hard life circumstances which lead some to despair, while those who remain hopeful don't really have it so hard? Or is there something else going on? Science Fiction writer Ursula LaGuin gives us a hint when she says that hopelessness arises "from an inability to face the present, to live in the present, to live as a responsible being among other beings in this sacred world here and now, which is all we have, and all we need to found our hope on." So perhaps living in the present, instead of in the future or the past, is part of the answer to the question.
What do you think? Where can hope be found even in the midst of all evidence to the contrary? Why are some able to hope, even in the midst of despair, and others are not? Are we all born with an innate sense of hope, or do we learn it? Perhaps this article will inspire you to write about your own thoughts on the subject.
Sophy |
Below you'll find some offerings from other WDC members about hope. Please let the folks know if you read their piece by leaving a thoughtful comment or review.
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Now for a few comments about my last newsletter about ethical wills and what kind of legacy we will leave behind:
From plainsue 
Dear Sophy: Thanks for your newsletter. It was very well written. It made me think. I am forty-something years old and not gonna have kids. How or what shall I leave to be remembered? I hope, with my writing and voice, I reach many. Thanks again, plainsue
Glad you enjoyed it. I also do not have children, as I said, and so won't be leaving that kind of legacy behind. But we can still leave something of ourselves, hopefully positive, after we are gone! 
     
From njames51 
Sophy - thanks for the awesome commentary on "Ethical Wills". I've always given poems as gifts to family and friends "reflecting the vocie" of my heart, and encouraging my kids to grow and become men with certain values and to make generousity and kindness the focus of their lives. But, they are grown - I have few material possessions, and never knew about "Ethical Wills".
But I will begin writing one, for it is all I can give to those I love: "reflections from my heart"
Tremendous newletter. Very inspiring! Thank You!
Thank you so much for your comment -- I'm so glad the article struck a chord with you! Good luck writing those "reflections!"
From standingdeer
Sophy, I have often thought writing a far better gift than money to leave in/as a will. Now after reading this Newsletter I KNOW it is a better gift! You have inspired me greatly and now I am off to write my Legacy!
Ruby StandingDEER
So glad to have inspired you! And good luck writing your legacy.
From Zeke
Great point in this newsletter. Whether we like it or not all of us are partially immortal. Some part of us will live on in others, whether good or bad.
Zeke
Exactly! Glad you liked the newsletter, and thanks for your comment.
Please keep your comments and suggestions coming, they are greatly appreciated! And on behalf of myself and the other regular Spiritual Newsletter Editors larryp and kittiara -- thanks for reading!
Until next time! Sophy
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Spiritual: August 27, 2008 Issue [#2575]
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