October 25: Hope as a Steadfast Anchor
- Scriptural: Hebrews 6:19 — “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”
- Reflection: External events, including transition in the world and in our lives, can bring turbulent feelings. Anchoring ourselves in hope then keeps us steady. We are called, by our faith tradition, to be people of hope rather than people of despair. It is a gift we can offer to others in the midst of challenging times.
Psychologist and author of Hope for Cynics Jamil Zaki writes “It’s important to distinguish hope from optimism. Optimism is the belief that things will turn out well, and that can make us rosy and happy, but it can also make us feel complacent. It’s also often a mismatch with what’s going on around us. If things are really feeling broken in our lives or in the world, optimism can seem ridiculous.”
“But, hope is different. It’s not the belief that things will go well, it’s the belief that they could improve and that we don’t know what the future holds. Because of that, our actions matter.”
“So, hope is not a way of ignoring problems or pretending like everything is great when it’s not. In fact, it’s a way of tackling and taking problems head on and saying, ‘Well, things are not great now, but I can envision a better future. I can find the other people who want it and we can work together to try to achieve it.’ It’s actually a great frame of mind for facing adversity—to retain a vision that things could improve.” (full article: https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/for_the_new_year_try_cultivating_hope), - Spiritual Practice: Seek resilience by visualizing the way that something about which you are concerned, at a manageable scale, could be improved. Describe that visualization in a prayer.
Song:
- “Goodness of God” by Bethel Music: https://youtu.be/-f4MUUMWMV4?si=j-vDG69RUzfxWSKJ
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” — Desmond Tutu
Oct 25 Daily Devotional