During the current lockdown, I often hear people say, “I hope this will be over soon.” “I hope we can meet face to face soon.” “Let’s hope it will not get worse than this.” We all have hope even in the midst of trials, griefs and disappointments.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” I love how he described disappointment as “finite” but depicted hope as “infinite”.
My favourite author Pastor John Piper wrote, “Hope is like a reservoir of emotional strength.” Those who are hopeful are generally more resilient, and vice versa. How do we cultivate hope in ourselves or in others? I want to share my thoughts here.
The premise of our hope
What do we base our hope on? The certainty of our hope depends on the basis of the hope. Although hope looks to the future, our hope is based on the past. For example, Christians have full assurance of Heaven and eternal life in the future, which is not based on a future prophecy, but on a past event – the biblical account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the historical account of an empty tomb[1].
Past events give us ground for our hope. I buy presents for all my nieces and nephews every Christmas, so they are hopeful that they will receive a gift from their favourite auntie this Christmas. If they had never received Christmas gifts from me, they will be less hopeful of receiving one this year.
However, unfortunately, our memory often fails us. If, for whatever reasons, my nieces or nephews do not remember receiving any gift from me, they will not hope to receive one this Christmas. Hence our hope is based on our recollection of past events as much as recorded facts. This is why optimistic and grateful people who remember the good things in life are often more hopeful than those who focus on the negative things.
To be hopeful, we need to cultivate the habit of counting our blessings.
The perpetuation of our hope
Although hope looks to the future and is based on the past, its perpetuating presence depends on our present action. Hope propels us to act, and action in turn gives us hope. People who suffer from depression are paralysed from taking any action to make positive changes in their life, they do not perceive their action will make any difference; on the other hand, failure to act leads to more hopelessness, creating a vicious cycle.
Our perpetuating hope requires us to act today. What we decide to do today will decide our tomorrow.
To be hopeful, we need to cultivate the habit of actively doing something positive today, every day.
The projection of our hope
Although hope is based on the past, and depends on the present, it should not be limited by the past nor the present. We should not let our past successes nor our present sights limit the possibility of our hope.
During this present lockdown, people often ask, “When is this going to end, so we can return to our normal life?” Really? After all these, do we hope to return to our “normal” past? Why don’t we use this opportunity to reflect and to contemplate a better way of life? It is time to stop dwelling on the past and start dreaming a better future.
Our hope should not lie in returning to the past, however good it had been, but to expect something new, something better than the past and the present.
To be hopeful, we need to cultivate the habit of dreaming the unthinkable.
Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God. – William Carey
[1] If you are interested in reading more on this, go to https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/historical-evidence-for-the-resurrection
Real Life Resilience 