Having Hope

What do we know about Hope?

First, let's see what hope is NOT.

Hope is not a way to worry

Sometimes people use the word “hope” as a way to worry. For example: “I hope the egg salad we’ve left out on the patio for the last three hours hasn’t gone bad.” That’s not really hope -- that’s foolishness.

Hope is not a way to wish

Sometimes people use the word “hope” to make a wish. “I hope I win the lottery.” or “I hope my son makes his bed and cleans his room without being asked.” Now these things aren’t likely to happen -- though it is possible to win the lottery -- but not likely.
This too is not true hope.

Hope is not a way to give up

Sometimes people use the word “hope” as a sign that they are giving up. The hurricane hits, the waters rise up the steps, past the first story and then to the roof. And those stranded on the roof say, “All we have left is hope...” What they’re really saying is, “Our hope is gone!”

Hope is not a way to offer comfort

Sometimes people use hope to offer comfort to others: “Your car was totalled? Have hope -- you still have your bicycle.” or “Your house burned down? Have hope -- you have insurance.” or “You’re dying of cancer? Have hope -- they’re really doing some amazing things in medicine these days.”

Now while all these seemingly hope-fill statements are true, they’re not really about Hope, for they ignore what’s happening inside the person:

If I tell you to "have hope" after the car accident, I fail to invite you to share what feelings of fear and panic linger in the aftermath of that destruction. And true Hope must speak to that.

If I tell you to "have hope" after your house burns down, I’m ignoring the feelings of emptiness that come from losing priceless photos and other family treasures and I don’t recognize that insurance can’t really give you your old home back. And true Hope must speak to that.

And if I tell you that medical science holds out new possibilities in the midst of your cancer, then I don’t really enter into the journey of your fear and anger and depression and ultimate acceptance. And true Hope is not found in external possibilities, but true Hope must speak to the inner person.

If that is what Hope isn’t, how can we describe what Hope is?

Think of an image of a kite flying in the wind. The first thing you notice of course is the kite. Not the string. Next you notice the wind. Not the string.
Then your eye is drawn to the person flying the kite. Still not the string.
Finally you are conscious of the string. You might not even see it at a distance, but you know it is there.
Hope is like the string.
Hope is the string that links us to God.
There are three qualities to kite string:
(a) It must be rigid. We don’t use elastic cord to fly our kites.
They would flutter about too much and come crashing down.
But the taut kite string will help the kite to fly.
(b) The string must be flexible. We fly a kite on a string and not a
long stick because the string moves back and forth with the wind.
If it was at the end of an inflexible stick, the wind would rip the kite.
(c) The string is a gift of the flier. The kite cannot give itself more string. Only the flier can.
(d) An essential purpose of the string is to bring the kite back home.

So too it is with Hope. Hope is rigid -- it makes us strong and able to fly in the face of the strong winds.
Hope is flexible. None of us have any idea what the next wind will bring. We don’t know its direction or its strength. But Hope helps us to move with whatever the next breeze brings.
Hope is the gift of the flier. Nothing we do can increase this gift of Hope. It is given by God. It is a knowledge that we are connected to God and that God will never let us go. Even from early times in the church, Hope was pictured as an anchor -- Hope anchors us to God.
Hope brings us home. As much as we might like to avoid dying now, one day all of us will be drawn home to heaven. Hope doesn't leave us fluttering aimlessly through life, but directs and guides us to the place where God dwells.

So when Saint Paul says that "Love is always ready to hope," he's pointing out that a loving person is open to God's pull, open to letting God be the anchor, open to accepting a bond to God as a gift.