Hope. I struggle with the concept of hope. Upon reading Nietzsche’s definition of hope several decades ago, I resonated with his “Hope is the greatest evil of humankind. (To be honest, he did write mankind.) After my initial shock, I grasped his idea and took it as comfort somehow. Odd, I know. Faith was a stronghold for me, not hope. I saw hope as mostly betrayal. Hopes of my childhood did not manifest as I hoped they would. The Jews survived in the Holocaust on hope. Most did not survive their torture, forced labor, and starvation.
I heard people state they hoped something would occur, and did nada to make it happen except hope that it would. Magic. Hope was a wish, an illusion, or a delusion. Hope is too wispy. It fragments and dissolves like a cloud. How useful is that?
Then, for no apparent reason, a few weeks ago, I realized hope is an energy. It is an energy of the moment, in the moment. Hope is a positive thought that things could work out well. It’s kind of like a prayer energy of goodness. Can we control the future with hope? I don’t know. Is hope hope different than faith? I don’t know. If hope can bring and instill positive energy change in the moment, it serves its purpose.
I’ve come full circle with hope. Back to my childhood hope and faith that things will get better. Now I know about living in the present, the moment, and the now. Sometimes.When I am in the now, I find hope to be a balm of sorts. It comforts me. Bye-bye, Nietzsche on hope. Paul of the Christian New Testament is not at all a favorite of mine with his misogynistic writing. However, his famous quote on hope “ Faith, hope and charity or love…but the greatest of these is love” does give me…hope.
Perhaps hope is a feeling, faith is a thought, and love is action. That works for me as well.Maybe hope is a basket, a container for faith. Maybe we all hold onto whatever gives us the most power, the deepest reason for our existence, and the most comfort that life will get better. We hope that our country will unify its opposites, that less children will suffer, and that more wounds will be healed rather than created. May you find peace in however you view and use hope in your life. And may you have faith in love.
Peace and love
Gabrielle
11/07/18