Hope. Such an essential emotion. Perhaps, the most fundamental of human sentiment. Sometimes, the one thing that gets us through the day. The only thing that carries you through a horrible day at work. The driving force that kept me fighting every time I failed to quit alcohol. The motivation that propels us to the end of a wearying week with the promise of that Saturday lie in. The shred of faith for a better tomorrow that kept so many holocaust survivors alive while they starved and suffered through unimaginable pain. It is so tied in with faith that I want to insert this quote from The Prince of Egypt (1998) –
‘He can take away your food, your home, your freedom. He can take away your sons and daughters. With one word Pharaoh can take away your very lives. But there is one thing he cannot take away from you: your faith.’
Faith if anything, is hope.
What a horrible year. How difficult it has been to feel positive through the pain and disappointment covid has inflicted. Covid may well take away your holidays, your Christmas, your weddings, and your loved ones. It might take away your parties, your mental health, your freedom, and your lives. But it can never take away your hope.
Something I reflected on this morning is that the only thing that has pulled me through some really tough times this year has been hope. I’m sure this will be the case for each person reading this. Barely any of the things I hoped for materialised. And I’m still alive, still hopeful, still looking for the joy in each moment. The things themselves, are not what is integral. The reunions and the parties and the wine and the chocolate. The weddings and the hot summers days and the shopping trips and the holiday. The bonus and the cosy Christmas and the gym session and the coffee dates. None of these are what has kept us going.
So, let’s keep the hope alive. Let us continue to have faith that things will get better. Of course they will. We just have to continue for a few more months. We just have to make through to the end of today. Each day that comes, fill it with hope for that weekend takeaway or your mid-morning coffee. A stolen kiss with your spouse or that walk you have planned on your lunch break.
Hope for a better day and today will become that day.
