Monday, April 9, 2012

"H" is for Hope....

perceptions + quotes + reality =
A to Z Challenge


How fitting that this word would find itself positioned the day after Easter. Happy Belated Easter by the way, my favorite holiday!

Spring and the Easter season; their doors wide open for hope with nature displaying its finest dress to the hope that is signified in the rising of Christ from the tomb! Hope as a singular word depicts a gradient of meanings from the mundane and glib terms as in, ‘I hope it’s warm tomorrow.’ to a much deeper connotation when it’s used in terms of ‘I hope a cure for cancer is found soon.’

The word hope is both a noun (desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment) and a verb (to cherish a desire with anticipation).  For a word that is so routinely used, many possibilities arise, however in any way the word is spoken there remains a part of us all that desires an outcome. We crave for happenings to be as our heart indicates as in ‘I hope to win the lottery!’

But still, I struggle to recognize the real meaning of hope when the search turns into that of disappointment; when there is not cure for cancer or when I hoped a loved one would recover from a horrific accident, but they didn’t and disappointment occurs. Where is the hope then?

In Romans 5:3-5 "And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us…”   

I HOPE someday to understand this word fully but in the meantime what does HOPE mean to you?
“Hope never abandons you, you abandon it”
by George Weinberg

24 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Happy Easter Tracy and family!!

Hope for me is more a feeling of positiveness and good thoughts! Things become possible, dreams are born, solutions become clearer. It is the constant light at the end of every dark tunnel!

Take care
x

Rebecca Bradley said...

For me hope is a wish for something. We're hopeful but it's not expected.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Without Hope life would be so dull. One must have hope to carry on through the not so good times.

Wonderful H post thanks for writing it.

Yvonne.

Catherine said...

I have HOPE that spring will come and stay in Southwest Saskatchewan eventually...hope... ;)

I hope you and your family had a terrific Easter Tracy!
xo Catherine

Connie said...

Nice post, Tracy. Hope has a lot of meanings for me. I guess mainly though hope is the reason to lead an optimistic rather than a pessimistic life. No matter where you are in life there is hope that the future will be brighter.

TexWisGirl said...

well said: We crave for happenings to be

*sigh*

Angels Amber and Max DaWeenie and Mom said...

I hopes to have unending treats and an always-full food bowl! :o)

Mom hopes fur a world with nothing but peace and love. Probably have a better chance with the always-full food bowl!

Tina Fariss Barbour said...

Great post, Tracy. Hope is one of my favorite words. I like how you discuss the layers of meanings in the word.

Hope is important to me because it's the opposite of despair. Hope is that belief that even though right now might be a dark hour, things will improve. I will feel better. I will be better. The world will be better.

Sometimes I don't even realize I've had hope in a situation until I come out on the other side and realize I didn't give in totally to the despair.

Bossy Betty said...

Ah! I've learned to trust in hope these days! I love that quote!

Inger said...

Hope means that you don't give up, that you trust something on faith. If that makes sense. I have read blogs this morning and there are so many H words that string together: Hope, Heart, Harmony.....

T. Powell Coltrin said...

Hope to me is a tiny flame in the darkest night.

T

Unknown said...

I think hope is a choice. I choose a hopeful life therefore my life is hopeful.

My Mind's Eye said...

One should never give up on HOPE!!

Did Mr. Nicholas enjoy his Scout trip and did he have a good b-day?
Hugs Madi and Mom

Unknown said...

Great one Tracy. Funny how we both wrote on Hope for our challenge! I truly believe in hope and yes it has different meanings for me as well. I HOPE for a cure for cancer, but I also know that all is never lost...that our God promises us a HOPE and a future in Jer. 29:11. Hope is what makes me get up each and every morning and say, Hello world!!! Thank you sweetie for this post.

Kelly Stilwell said...

Hope is so hard to define. Yes, someone earlier said it was like a wish, but it's one I believe in as I pray for things I hope for, and then trust in Him to do the rest.
Lovely writing!

Nancy said...

I think it should mean, when all shreds of hope seem to be gone, that's when you dig down and find hope in the darkest of times. Because what else is there?

Crack You Whip said...

"Hope" is an amazing choice for a post topic. So glad I found you on the A-Z challenge. I love positive, inspiring blogs!

Kea said...

I struggle with "hope." I often think I don't have any hope for better days or years ahead, given that as we all get older we're faced with more loss, more sickness, more death. I often feel I have no hope left in me at all.

But can a human survive without even a kernel of hope for future?

When my thoughts take a downturn, I try to tell myself that while "bad" things are sure to happen, there's always the possibility of good things happening too.

I suppose that's a form of hope.

My ex-husband used to say expect nothing but hope for everything.

He might have had something there.

Donna K. Weaver said...

Lovely post. If not for hope (and faith) where would we be?

DL Hammons said...

HOPE to me...means never settling for reality! :)

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Hope is the one thing which keeps me going. Without hope in our lives, we'd have no reason to get up in the mornings... I need to have that 'hope' ---believing that something good will happen, out of all circumstances.

You've heard this: "Hope Springs Eternal".... It is human nature to always find fresh cause for optimism...

Hugs,
Betsy

Julie Flanders said...

I think for me hope means believing that things can get better, no matter how dire or difficult a situation seems. It may take a while but things will get easier or better. It's a beautiful word.

I hope you had a very Happy Easter, Tracy!

Patricia Stoltey said...

Hope is the thing that keeps me going in difficult times. Abandoning hope would invite despair into my life, and I really don't want to do that.

Beth Zimmerman said...

Happy Easter, Tracy ... I'm clinging to hope that God is blessing me with a way to replace the income and insurance that we lost when I quit my job. And still be able to do what I love!