Journal of Sacred Work

Today’s meditation was written by Cathy Self, Senior Vice President for the Baptist Healing Trust.

     According to tradition, Pandora, the first mortal woman, received from Zeus a box that she was forbidden to open. The box contained all human blessings, and all human curses. Temptation overcame restraint, and Pandora opened the box. In a moment, all the curses were released into the world, and all of the blessings escaped and were lost – except one: hope. Without hope, you see, mortals could not endure. I’ve been in the company of caregivers this week who have lost hope. They tell me they greet each day with dread, and count the days remaining until they may find release through retirement, change of job, or simply, as one put it, "waiting for the courage to just run away." Others in the same group were overflowing with gratitude for their work, and spoke of great hope even in the face of great challenges and ceaseless demands. But what is hope, and how do we hold it safe in our lives?

     According to Dr. Jerome Groopman, author of The Anatomy of Hope, we experience hope as one of our central emotions but it is not simple optimism. Hope does not come from being told to "think positively," or from being told that all will be well.  Rather, hope is the uplifting sense we experience when we are able to see a path to a better future, even though that path is laden with significant obstancles and even deep pitfalls along the way. Hope emerges when we choose with courage to confront our circumstances, whatever they may be.

     It seems hope arises from our emotional center but also from what occurs within our mind – hope chooses to see possibility. As Dr. Groopman found in his work, "for many who cannot see hope, their vision is blurred because they believe they are unable to exert any level of control over their circumstances." I am reminded, in the face of those who speak of hopelessness, of a friend who once reminded me "you always have a choice." And we do, don’t we? We can choose to begin again, to stand in the face of the mountain and take that first step in the journey. Hope chooses to hear the yes behind the no, and to see with new eyes those things we face every day.

     Proust wrote that the greatest discoveries lie not in seeking new vistas but in seeing the familiar with new eyes. Perhaps this is the blessing of hope – the gift of seeing everyday challenges with new eyes. As you face difficulty and discouragement in your work, how do you tap into Love’s gift of hope?