Exploring the meaning of hope

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/09/2019 (2489 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What is the stuff that hope is made of?

As I write, it is unseasonably cold and drizzly, as has been the case for much of September. The weight of urgency mounts in farmers as each wet day passes. Manitobans wonder what is ahead for our province after Election Day. Those who believe our climate is in crisis fear the future will alter life as we know it, or worse.

Many in my neighbourhood turn to alcohol or drugs like meth to deal with their pain and despair. We all seek escape in some way: TV, books, social media, video games…

And yet, what we really need is hope.  Hope that prevails in the midst of bleak circumstances.
What is hope?  What brings hope and what sustains it?

On wordnik.com we find one definition of hope as, “the longing or desire for something accompanied by the belief in the possibility of its occurrence.” A more archaic usage is simply “trust; confidence.”

This makes sense to me. We hope because we believe (as we can’t know for sure). And we believe because we have built trust that, over time, things will work out, that tomorrow will always come, that each day is “a new day with no mistakes in it yet” (Anne of Green Gables).  

But what about the day that knocks the wind out of you? Or what if you’ve grown up with disappointment and trauma, never feeling like you could trust anyone? What possible source of hope is there?

I believe that no matter the circumstances, there is hope. Because the God who created everything is ultimately in charge of everything — not the government. Even though there has been evil and suffering in the world ever since our ancestors, Adam and Eve, chose to go their own way instead of God’s, God promises that in the end, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.  

And until then, He promises, “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Gen. 8:22, NIV).  

As for the day-to-day, Psalm 23 expresses the hope of a sheep-herder-turned-king who lived a long time ago: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want…even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

What is the stuff of hope? Believing that a good outcome is possible — even if it is out of our control.  

My desire is that in these days, you find an unshakable source of hope for your life.

Sonya Braun is a community correspondent for the North End. You can contact her at sonyajoy@gmail.com