12.11.2013

Hope


Last week I invited Facebook pals and blogging buddies to share reflections on hope. Your brilliant reflections have been collected here. I removed last names in case folks preferred a bit of anonymity. Thank you for your contributions.

Here is a link to the Post-Bulletin column: Lady Pastor: Not just the holidays — the whole year is full of hope

Here are your amazing responses all collected in one spot. May your heart radiate with hope as you read and meditate on this list.

Hope feels like...
  • Darren: Cushioned insoles in my hiking boots to soothe my fallen arches.
  • Luke: Bacon
  • Gretchen: Uplifting wind
  • Hugh: Someone hugging your heart so hard it brings tears to your eyes.
  • Brian: Finding a flashlight that works when the power is out!
  • Marcy: A beautiful sunrise (you know, the pink and purple kind).
  • Joy: A warm blanket on a cold night.
  • Barbara: Grandchildren.
  • Anna: Realizing you're not the only one.
  • Darren: A whiff of coffee I'm the blurry waking hours of the morning that compels you to throw off the covers and stumble into a new and uncertain day.
  • Mike: Sunrise
  • Shawn: Light
  • Joanna: Breathing deep when you didn't realize you were holding your breath
  • Trevor: A rising force that stirs the blood and brightens the soul.
  • Brian: Hope looks like, a man helping a stranger, hope feels like, being that stranger, hope taste like, those two people enjoying dinner together for his kindness, hope sounds like, when 30 years later they laugh at how they met!
  • Sallie: Seeing a newborn baby for the first time.
  • Manda: The wind coming off the Pacific Ocean
  • Kristin: The day before a vacation that will take you far, far away for many days.
  • Joy: Hope sounds like Bach.
  • Elle: The reason to exist.
  • Bridget: Fresh air
  • Hiliary: Your baby's squishy skin.
  • Sharon: Brings peace to the soul; light to the eyes and tastes like Ghirardelli chocolate.
  • Dan: The reason to face each day.
  • Kim: A breath of fresh air at the end of a hot day.
  • Andrea: Knowing it won't always be like this.
  • Andrea: Sounds like someone saying, "yes."
  • Greenleaf: Something I can hold and keep safe for you, until you can hold it and nurture it for yourself
  • Barb: The smell of a spring rain and the sight of a soft rainbow that appears following the rain.
  • Amanda: The anticipation of getting to shout "BINGO!"
  • Hugo: Smelling a baby's head for the first time.
  • Jim: A promissory note written on nougat.
  • Rachel: God touching my heart.
  • Peter: A new round of chemo.
  • Ashley: Family
  • Julie: Possibility
  • Lois: Life preserver
  • Joshua: Love
  • Todd: A party that everyone else is invited to. An island barely visible on the horizon. The strange key that might unlock a new door. (Not to bring it down, but sometimes it's tough to find hope.) The courage to face another day of the same old sh*t, waiting for the day when things will be different.
  • David: My sister and brother-in-law getting off the plane from China with their new daughter after an eight year wait.
  • AJ: The Almost.
  • Shannon: The color blue - sometimes seen on the horizon, sometimes enveloping you completely where you are and when you need it most. I love the book "Praying in Color" and blue is the color I use when praying hope into people's lives.
  • Linda: Each morning
  • Dan: Listening to Tucker tell me about new things he's learned.
  • Karen: Receiving a heartfelt hug.
  • Lynne: Suppressed joy
  • Tiffany: All is not lost
  • Audrey: A heavy load lifted
  • Valerie: A dove soaring
  • Ingrid: Complete Faith in God
  • Kim: Hope feels like a soft gentle breeze on a sweltering, hot day.
  • JHope feels like a lift in my heart.
  • PeteHope is that warm, exciting, comforting, happy, "hang in there (persevere)" internal feeling that results from anticipating a wonderful outcome to a given event. In the face of dark and gloom, all is not lost.

3 comments:

  1. Hope is sitting in the waiting room of the cancer center and realizing you have a connection to every person in this room, it's name is cancer, but when you look closely at each of them you can see the look of hope in their eyes.

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