Hope

Hope is not a momentary flicker.
Hope is Eternity's slow, steady,
Illumining and fulfilling height.

--  Sri Chinmoy

Hope, I think, is that which keeps us moving forward in spiritual darkness.  It is born of faith and fed by sacrament.  It grows with praxis and makes gentle the spirit.  Not a mere dedication to “positive thinking,” hope survives the most horrific events because faith gives meaning to life. 

Hope is that which permits us to ask, at the end of our rope, “Help me.”  Hope grows in light of the knowledge that we are loved by the Beloved.  It makes us get up one more time and try again. 

Hope is fed by love.  Love that is given by us and love that we give both nurture hope.  Hope is a great gift, best grown within one’s self by giving it away.  We can be utterly helpless and still have hope. 

Hope understands that the One Who loves loves us utterly and entirely and wants us to be happy.  Hope dances in the dark, laughing at illusory fears, knowing that with the dawn, the King is coming and all will be well.