Esperanza/Hope

We are approaching the holiest of nights and what better topic to explore than Hope. Hope is what the Israelites had to have to escape bondage. Hope is what Andy Dufrain had in the classic movie "Shawshank Redemption" and hope is what we all have when what we aspire to attain alludes us our multiple attempts.

So it is my hope you find a phrase or word in this blog that inspires you again..where you regain hope.

So lets look at the definition first.

hope

hōp/

noun

1. 1.

   a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

   
   

   "he looked through her belongings in the hope of coming across some information"

   synonyms:

   aspiration, desire, wish, expectation, ambition, aim, goal, plan, design; More

   • 
     

     
     
   • 
     

     
     
2. 2.

   archaic

   a feeling of trust.

I recently read a book by Henry Cloud called Boundaries in Dating. And the phrase that stood out to me was when hope and long suffering are married for a good end and when hope is simply futile given your multiple attempts with no progress to face a wrong. 

To be sure repentance does not mean that every time you will succeed in your quest to change an incorrect behavior but it does mean recognizing a wrong and willing it with God and other people's help to truly change the behavior. How many of us truly do this?

Sometimes it is fear that makes us stop cold turkey as when someone quits smoking and never returns to it when they discover a growth in their lung. Sometime I think fear is more powerful than almost anything to change behavior quickly and permanently. I think moral failings could be more easily conquered if the end result scared you straight.

But back to hope...I think this is the quandary..when someone repeatedly denies a wrong or has a rational lie for justifying one...that is a rational lie in their own mind. I think it is healthy to give up hope after some time for both people's sake. For reality always proves a wrong is a wrong as it leads you to pain and the removal of joy. That's the beauty of truth...reality simply can never sustain and grow when a objective wrong is embraced.

Before we invoke the Alpha and the Omega..I will surmise a Spanish saying.

If you lose money you have lost nothing
If you lose love you have lost something
But if you lose hope you have lost everything

So my answer this Christmas eve is that the author of all became incarnate and HE self sacrificed and saved us.

And so as we await baby Jesus...know that if we leave things in Gods hands..HE can do what our minds may deem impossible to hope.