Image: Lauren Coleman via Unsplash
Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.
South African retired Anglican bishop, social rights activist, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Desmond Tutu, was born on this day in 1931.
I cannot even begin to imagine what it was like to fight for social justice in South Africa. The whole concept escapes me.
On a complete side note I did almost have the chance to go to South Africa once, but that, along with the associated job, fell through.
I digress.
So, while I’ve never had to fight because I was being socially repressed, I do know what it’s like to experience times when it feels like there is no hope.
Like that time when the doctor said “there’s a better than 90% chance that it’s cancer” and it was. Or the time when the above-mentioned job went away. Or when I lost that same job a second time.
True stories. They may or may not be in one of the books.
If you’re a person of faith, as I am, then you’ve experienced those bleak times when it seems hope is lost and it’s hard to hang onto that faith.
Right now people along the east coast of Florida are hoping for some sunshine, real soon.
It’s true that “Sunday’s coming” has meaning, but sometimes it’s still hard to have hope.
Think about it, the disciples had followed Jesus for three years. In their minds he was going to overthrow Rome and set their people free. But that was never why he came. Then they saw him arrested, beaten and killed.
Those hours between when he breathed his last on the cross to that Sunday morning in the garden had to be pretty dark.
Was their a glimmer of hope?
We know that there was more than a glimmer, but those hours seemed pretty bleak.
There’s a meme floating around Facebook that says something like if you think you’re in a situation that has no hope remember the last time you felt like there was no hope. Or the time two years ago when you faced an impossible situation.
Life isn’t easy.
In fact, it’s damned hard. Regardless of your circumstances.
There’s always hope.
Literature is full of stories of those who held onto hope when life seemed the bleakest.
Not all had a happy ending.
Jean Valjean, the Count of Monte Cristo, and Andy Dufresne all spent years in prison, but they never gave up hope.
Sometimes all you need is a rock hammer and a big@$$ poster of Rita Hayworth.
And a weekend. Weekends are always good.
Like tomorrow.
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