Hope
Living Life with Forward Momentum
Introduction
It’s December and Christmas is drawing near. At church we started lighting the Advent wreath with its four candles around a center candle. The first candle is a symbol of hope. Thank you for joining me in this issue of The Adventure of Reflection as I ponder living life with the forward momentum of hope.
A Minute of Motivation
Keep Hoping
Martin Luther once said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.”
It’s important to hang on to hope about tomorrow. Hope is the anticipation that the future will be brighter than the present, regardless of what today looks or feels like. Hope puts a bounce in the steps of today, a smile in the midst of tears, and a light to shine in the darkness.
When sorrow is thick, or pain is great, a ray of hope will help to melt through the cold oppression of difficult times. Maybe you can be a source of hope for someone else who has no hope of their own, or maybe the hope of another will help you to get to the other side of today’s pain.
It sometimes seems impractical or unrealistic to hope. There may, at times, appear to be no apparent reason to hope for something better. It is especially important at those times to have hope, because hope will bring light into the darkness of despair and reveal a way out of that despair, or at least enough strength to go on.
Hope for a better tomorrow for yourself, and for the suffering masses in this world. For the strength to do the work of today comes from having hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Keep hoping.
Note. Originally written in 1993 and preserved on dot-matrix printer paper. Published for the first time nearly 30 years later.
Enjoy Life More
Hope-Full or Hope-Less
How much hope do you have? If hope could be measured, like rain in a rain gauge, how “full” would you be?
In order to “measure” hope, we should first clarify what it is we are measuring. Hope is living today with energy drawn from the future. Hope asserts that pain will end, good will come from current suffering, or the future will bring rewards for today’s sacrifices or struggles.
To feel “hope-less” is to have little expectation of an end to pain, to see no meaning from today’s suffering, or to anticipate no rewards for today’s sacrifices or struggles.
Hope is anchored in the future, and provides energy for today. Hope invests effort and time today because of an anticipated future. Today’s hope draws momentum from a hoped-for tomorrow. Living today in hope is tethered to making tomorrow better for oneself or others.
Hope is like a rope thrown into an unseen future, mysteriously connected to yet-to-be-seen outcomes. Hanging onto the rope of hope gives today’s efforts energy and stability. Today’s actions are energized and anchored by hope.
Where is your hope anchored? To enjoy life more, practice asserting that there is an end to pain, there is meaning from today’s suffering, and there will be rewards from current sacrifice and struggle. Tomorrow is better because of today. Be hope-full.
Faith Corner
“Do not grieve without hope.” (from 1 Thessalonians 4:13)
Death brings a sense of futility and hopelessness. Prior to someone’s death we hang onto the hope of healing, hoping for more time with someone we love. When death closes the door to a possible recovery, the hope of more time is crushed. Like a glass broken on the floor, the repair is impossible. This is grief without hope.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians about death, encouraging the believers in Jesus to not grieve without hope as unbelievers did. Their Lord, Jesus Christ, had died and come back to life. Paul wrote, “we believe that Jesus died and rose again, we also believe God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him” (v. 14).
Jesus often spoke of death as “falling asleep” and there are several recorded miracles of Him waking up the dead by restoring life to their lifeless bodies. No human can do that. Sure, there are those who are medically revived after being dead for a few minutes. But the examples of waking the dead in the Bible are restorations of life after days of being dead.
Christians, those who believe in Jesus Christ, have hope in a great awakening of all believers who have fallen asleep in death. That awakening is called “resurrection.” Granted, it’s a pretty incredible thing in which to believe, but belief in the resurrection energizes hope into the grief of losing a loved one to death. Hoping at death is anticipating a reunion with loved ones, made healthy and whole.
Dear Lord, thank You for bringing hope into grief, the hope of being awakened with those we love who also believe in You. We can’t bring life back into the dead, but You can and You have. Help us live in confidence that You will. Thank You for helping us grieve with hope. Amen.
Poetry Pause
H-O-P-E
Holding
Onto
Positive
Energy
By Cindy MacGregor, December 1, 2022
Note. Hope throws a lasso onto the future and pulls energy into today.
Old Mom to Young Mom
Hope-Oriented Parenting
What do you hope for your children? I’ve heard parents say of their children: “I just want them to be happy” or to be “good people when they grow up.”
Setting your hopes for a child is like creating a blueprint for your parenting. The future hope provides energy and direction for today’s parenting. Do you hope for them to be well-adjusted? Financially independent? Compassionate? When you picture your child as an adult, what image do you see?
My advice to you, as an old mom to a young mom (or dad) is to invest some time into clarifying your hopes for your child(ren). If you want them to be “happy” what does that even mean? I have known some sociopaths who seem quite happy. Good parents make their children very unhappy at times, when helpful negative consequences discourage problematic behavior.
Similarly, if you want your children to be “good people when they grow up” what exactly do you mean by “good?” Here’s a suggested list: kind, generous, self-controlled, patient, loving, joyful, calm, and hopeful.
Parent in hope for the type of adult you want your child to be. Keeping that focus will orient and energize today’s parenting.
Dear Dr. Mac
(From a reader) I find myself in the "countdown." I have been thinking about the end of my life much more now than I did just a few years ago. I remember talking to an [insurance] agent about long term insurance telling him I wouldn't need it. (I was never going to get to be like an "old" person, my body wouldn't fail me). Now that's in doubt.
It's true, sadness does come in waves, as does grief. The most painful thing to do is to bury a child. We expect to lose parents, even siblings, but not our children. I don't know how I could have survived the loss of [my son] without my faith in God. This time of year is especially difficult. Holidays were always special to him and he made every effort to be home for them. Needless to say, there is always an empty chair at the table. Signed, [my aunt]
Dear Reader,
Thank you for sharing your heart in this poignant message. Your brother [my dad] often speaks of losing Mom and says he wouldn’t have been able to get through it without “faith, family, and friends.” To be fair, he also has an additional “F” in farming. When Mom was in her final weeks of life, he was out planting another crop, rows slightly crooked from the fog of grief. When I think about hope in the midst of grief I picture him in the field putting seeds in the ground. Not quite apple trees, but very “Martin Luther” nonetheless.
I am so sorry you have to trudge through the remaining years of your life here without the joy brought by all of your children by your side. But I am confident in this: When your countdown clock hits zero, your son will be welcoming you from the other side. And there will be a great party, with much laughter, because my Mom is also there.
Love you!
If you would like to hear what I think about something, please send an email to: drcjmacgregor@outlook.com; I will respond via email or in this section of a future newsletter, or both. I hope to hear from you!