Meditations on hope and resilience for the first Sunday of Advent
Hope begins in the dark … the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You don’t give up. — Anne Lamott
You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope. — Thomas Merton
SONGS about HOPE:
- Hope Linger Here by LOW Lily (folk): https://youtu.be/lv9R60CSQ54
- One Day You Will by Lady Antebellum (country): https://youtu.be/EY2Yct8LjOo
- Resilient by Rising Appalachia (country/folk): https://youtu.be/f6nXqDYj8dY
- Resilient by Katy Perry (pop): https://youtu.be/LNHM5CcvMm0
- Reach Out I’ll Be There by The Four Tops (rock): https://youtu.be/P0B0Kv7hiNo
- Hey Hey Hey by Michael Franti & Spearhead (folk/rap): https://youtu.be/IFPobQ-ewiA
- Song of Hope by Natasha Bedingfield (pop): https://youtu.be/H9eqk7Z1O3M
- Song of Hope and Peace by Jonathan van der Lugt: https://youtu.be/nmbTxiwunxI
- Broken and Beautiful by Kelly Clarkson (country/pop): https://youtu.be/aML-Fm7qIuM
- One Life by Boyce Avenue & Friends (pop): https://youtu.be/uIeEA0GdYj4
- I Hope by Gabby Barrett (pop/country): https://youtu.be/qcCH6JpcK5w
- Keep on Keepin On by Daphne Willis (folk): https://youtu.be/d_aMoO3u2lc
- The Climb by Miley Cyrus (pop/country): https://youtu.be/NG2zyeVRcbs
- Medley of Songs of Hope by Saddleback Church (Christian): https://youtu.be/qjTBWewV6O4Hope
- It’s Going to Be Alright by Sara Groves (pop): https://youtu.be/E9yNZ17j8Fg
Blessing of Hope — Jan Richardson
So may we know the hope
that is not just for someday
but for this day—here, now,
in this moment that opens to us:
hope not made of wishes
but of substance,
hope made of sinew
and muscle and bone,
hope that has breath
and a beating heart,
hope that will not keep quiet
and be polite,
hope that knows how to holler when it is called for,
hope that knows how to sing when there seems little cause,
hope that raises us
from the dead—
not someday
but this day,
every day,
again and again and again.
Advent 1: The Parable
In a mother’s womb were two babies. The first baby asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”
The second baby replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”
“Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What would that life be?”
“I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths.”
The doubting baby laughed. “This is absurd! Walking is impossible. And eat with our mouths? Ridiculous. The umbilical cord supplies nutrition. Life after delivery is to be excluded. The umbilical cord is too short.”
The second baby held his ground. “I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here.”
The first baby replied, “No one has ever come back from there. Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery it is nothing but darkness and anxiety and it takes us nowhere.”
“Well, I don’t know,” said the twin, “but certainly we will see mother and she will take care of us.”
“Mother?” The first baby guffawed. “You believe in mother? Where is she now?”
The second baby calmly and patiently tried to explain. “She is all around us. It is in her that we live. Without her there would not be this world.”
“Hah. I don’t see her, so it’s only logical that she doesn’t exist.”
To which the other replied, “Sometimes when you’re in silence you can hear her, you can perceive her. I believe there is a reality after delivery and we are here to prepare ourselves for that reality when it comes….”
— Attribution uncertain: According to Wayne Dyer, the original story was told by Henri J. W. Nouwen. Possibly adapted from the writings of Pablo Molinero. Or penned in 1947 by Orthodox Rabbi Yechiel Michel Tucazinsky. Or from the Hungarian writer Útmutató a Léleknek.
The spiritual task of life is to feed hope. Hope is not something to be found outside of us. It lies in the spiritual life we cultivate within.— Joan Chittister
There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’ No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster. ― Dalai Lama XIV
Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose. ― Viktor E. Frankl
Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. – Jonas Salk
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope. – Maya Angelou
They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world: someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for. – Tom Bodett
Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough. – Richard M. DeVos
A lot of people have their big dreams and get knocked down and don’t have things go their way. And you never give up hope, and you really just hold on to it. Hard work and perseverance. You just keep getting up and getting up, and then you get that breakthrough.– Robert Kraft
Hope is the dream of a soul awake. — French proverb
Dum spiro, spero: While I breath, I hope. — Latin proverb
The very least you can do in your life is figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof. — Barbara Kingsolver, Animal Dreams
IS HOPE ABOUT NOW or TOMORROW, IS IT a HELP or an OBSTACLE?
Grounded hope has two parts. The “grounded” part refers to a realistic understanding of our lives and ourselves. Instead of painting a smiley face over what has happened, we bravely look at reality head-on. Seeing the situation clearly enables us to work toward recovery.
We cultivate the “hope” part by building confidence in our ability to shape what happens to us next. We start by asking, “Given what’s happened to me, what am I going to do about it? How can I build a better life on top of it?” Then we set goals for ourselves and find sources of motivation to pursue those goals.
At some point, most of us will face the task of recovering, rebuilding, and rebounding from adversity. Grounded hope can help us not just bounce back, but bounce forward. — Lee Daniel Kravetz, Option B, https://optionb.org/build-resilience/advice/steps-to-grounded-hope
Hope is important, because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. But that is the most that hope can do for us – to make some hardship lighter. When I think deeply about the nature of hope, I see something tragic. Since we cling to our hope in the future, we do not focus our energies and capabilities on the present moment. We use hope to believe something better will happen in the future, that we will arrive at peace, or the Kingdom of God. Hope becomes a kind of obstacle. If you can refrain from hoping, you can bring yourself entirely into the present moment and discover the joy that is already here…
Western civilization places so much emphasis on the idea of hope that we sacrifice the present moment. Hope is for the future. It cannot help us discover joy, peace, or enlightenment in the present moment. Many religions are based on the notion of hope, and this teaching about refraining from hope may create a strong reaction. But the shock can bring about something important. I do not mean that you should not have hope, but that hope is not enough. Hope can create an obstacle for you, and if you dwell in the energy of hope, you will not bring yourself back entirely into the present moment. If you re-channel those energies into being aware of what is going on in the present moment, you will be able to make a breakthrough and discover joy and peace right in the present moment, inside of yourself and all around you. — Thich Nhat Hahn, Peace In Every Step
When considered only philosophically, hope, more often than not, seems to be at odds with rational, analytical thinking. But due to its proactive nature, hope in action touches the heart and creates its own validation. A good example of this is found in the philanthropic work of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. In the 2015 Annual Gates Letter he wrote: “Optimism for me isn’t that things will get better; it’s a conviction that we can make things better — that whatever suffering we see, no matter how bad it is we can help people if we don’t lose hope and we don’t look away.” — article from ornishliving.com
Hope is not always comforting or comfortable. Hope asks us to open ourselves to what we do not know, to pray for illumination in this life, to imagine what is beyond our imagining, to bear what seems unbearable. It calls us to keep breathing when beloved lives have left us, to turn toward one another when we might prefer to turn away. Hope draws our eyes and hearts toward a more whole future but propels us also into the present, where Christ waits for us to work with him toward a more whole world now. — Jan Richardson
When God saves people in this life by working through his Spirit to bring them to faith and by leading them to follow Jesus in discipleship, prayer, holiness, hope, and love, such people are designed…to be a sign and foretaste of what God wants to do for the entire cosmos. What’s more, such people are not just to be a sign and foretaste of that ultimate salvation; they are to be part of the means by which God makes this happen both in the present and the future. — NT Wright
Advent Day 4: Daily Devotional
Patience comes as a form of discipline as we look toward Christmas. It builds up the muscles of hope.
Whatever is coming, it isn’t here just yet. Whatever we anticipate, imagine and envision, it is still a work in progress. Yet here we are: in this time and place. What can we do with it? How can we fully experience it?
Patience helps us become okay with finding simple, achievable measures for our time, energy and human connections. Maybe it means using postage stamps and handwriting notes, versus using texts and email. Crafting our own gift instead of buying one. Cooking from scratch versus buying a prepared meal. Walking instead of driving. Finding one next action, one next step, one next choice or word to move along.
This spiritual practice counteracts the expectation for instant gratification. Patience requires that we pace ourselves. Doing so, we lay the groundwork for the next steps in our connections with others and our accomplishment of goals.
While hope relies on willingness to pursue dreams by making plans, it also requires being present to what is happening at this time, in this place. Choose manageable steps, and work on objectives day by day. Tomorrow will be here soon enough, but the only day you’re sure to have is this one.
Savor this time, appreciate it, immerse yourself in it. Part of patience — a bridge builder for hope — begins with accepting where and when you are in this moment, and taking full advantage of all that it offers. — Rev Gail
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. — Isaiah 40:31
Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. — Jonas Salk
Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A ‘you can do it’ when things are tough. — Richard M. DeVos
A lot of people have their big dreams and get knocked down and don’t have things go their way. And you never give up hope, and you really just hold on to it. Hard work and perseverance. You just keep getting up and getting up, and then you get that breakthrough. — Robert Kraft
Reflections on Advent 1: Hope
Of History and Hope (excerpt) — Miller Williams
We have memorized America,
how it was born and who we have been and where.
In ceremonies and silence we say the words,
telling the stories, singing the old songs.
We like the places they take us. Mostly we do.
… But where are we going to be, and why, and who?
…. We mean to be the people we meant to be,
to keep on going where we meant to go.
… Who were many people coming together
cannot become one people falling apart.
Who dreamed for every child an even chance
cannot let luck alone turn doorknobs or not.
Whose law was never so much of the hand as the head
cannot let chaos make its way to the heart.
Who have seen learning struggle from teacher to child
cannot let ignorance spread itself like rot.
We know what we have done and what we have said,
and how we have grown, degree by slow degree,
believing ourselves toward all we have tried to become—
just and compassionate, equal, able, and free …
Hope: Optimism With a Plan— Ron Breazeale, Psychology Today
- First of all, hope is future oriented. …
- And secondly, hope is based on a system of belief that you can find a pathway to achieve your goal …
- And last of all, hope involves a plan.
Link: A Guide to Grounded Hope — Option B
Reflections on Hope
Hope is patience with the lamp lit. — Tertullian
I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe. — Dalai Lama
Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings. — Elie Wiesel
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. — Dale Carnegie
A lot of people have their big dreams and get knocked down and don’t have things go their way. And you never give up hope, and you really just hold on to it. Hard work and perserverance. You just keep getting up and getting up, and then you get that breakthrough. — Robert Kraft
We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Where there is no vision, there is no hope. — George Washington Carver
Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. — Robert Kennedy
Forgiving does not erase the bitter past. A healed memory is not a deleted memory. Instead, forgiving what we cannot forget creates a new way to remember. We change the memory of our past into a hope for our future. — Lewis Smedes
You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end, each of us must work for his own improvement and, at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be most useful. — Marie Curie
On Personal Hopes
My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return. — Maya Angelou
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me’. — Erma Bombeck
I have hope in people, in individuals. Because you don’t know what’s going to rise from the ruins. — Joan Baez
On Present Hope
We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds. — Aristotle Onassis
Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today. — Thich Nhat Hanh
On Future Hope
Our human compassion binds us the one to the other – not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering into hope for the future. — Nelson Mandela
Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. — Robert H. Schuller
Reflections on boldness, mercy & grace: themes from Hebrews 4
How will you come boldly into the presence of God, of Love? What does it mean, for you, to trust that you will receive the help you require, if not the help you desire, even if you cannot possibly merit it? Have you ever felt such a moment, being utterly loved and supported? Have you ever offered that sort of love and support to someone else? What sort of grace, or help, do you need?
How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold?
Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root,
and in that freedom bold.
— William Wordsworth (excerpt)
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute –
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated —
Begin it, and the work will be completed!
— John Anster (excerpt) translation of Part One of
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s“Faust”
On Boldness
Dream a big dream, a bold dream. Don’t play conservatively between the 40 yard lines. Don’t just play it safe. — Robert Kraft
Fortune befriends the bold. — Emily Dickinson
Be bold, be brave enough to be your true self. — Queen Latifah
Shine like the whole universe is yours. — Rumi
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