The Light of Hope Does NOT Need Protecting
Do you ever just know?
You hear the click.
You see the pieces fall into place.
Your heart feels lighter.
Because you know that right now
this moment
this place
you are doing exactly what you are called to do.
You are fulfilling all you are designed to be.
Right now.
That doesn’t mean five minutes from now, you won’t trip over air.
Oh, that’s just me, is it?
But right now, you are so light with joy overflowing that you are pretty sure you can fly.
Today isn’t the day I should feel like this.
Today there is great sorrow around me.
Today people are mourning who are close to me because of loss close to them.
Despite that, or maybe inspired by that, I feel warmth, peace, comfort …
HOPE!
That’s it, really. Hope has grown up so big inside me today that I am pretty sure it’s going to explode on everyone it encounters.
Why?
Because I had a fun conversation with the vendor stocking the grocery shelves.
Because I received a quarter from a stranger at the line at the Aldi grand opening and she wouldn’t take my three nickels and a dime in exchange.
Because despite the chaos at that grand opening, people were smiling and being patient, and yes, even laughing.
Because I had fun banter with my son while he was working on his homework.
Because little by little by little, I pieced together smiles, and laughs, and positive reinforcements until my encouragement reservoir overflowed and HOPE grew out of control.
Have you ever felt HOPE growing out of control?
It’s a brilliant thing to experience.
It’s just as brilliant to behold.
It makes NO SENSE to the world that doesn’t understand hope or dismisses it as the same as wishing and dreaming.
But when you know hope personally and you grow hope intentionally, there comes that moment when SUDDENLY it’s so big that it can’t be contained. It shines out to the world and the world that just dismissed it wants to learn more.
Questioning Hope
How do you have hope when your circumstances haven’t changed?
How do you keep humming when they just rushed your husband to the ER?
How do you breathe hope when the bill collectors keep calling?
How do you wear hope when the shoes you put on are wearing out?
How do you …
And the thing that doesn’t make sense is that it is by hope that I hope.
The more I feed the hope for my life and in my life, the more I find hope around my life.
Seeking the Light of Hope
Are you stuck?
Are you struggling?
Are you caught in a darkness you didn’t ask for (or deserve)?
Protecting the Light of Hope
Several years ago, a friend of mine was demonstrating the power of hope. She said hope is like a speck of light you cradle protectively in your hand. Imagine the cartoon where the spark or the glitter is alive and needs protecting. So you cup it and you hold it close and the darkness crowds you.
But hope doesn’t need protecting. It is your protection against the dark. When you open your hand and release your hold, hope dispels the darkness.
Darkness will never be able to stand against the light of hope.
It doesn’t feel natural to let go of the hope you just found. And it’s not natural. It is much, much more than natural. And you aren’t letting it go. You are releasing it. And when you do, the light shines, the dawn breaks, the darkness fades, and your hope grows so big that it changes your world.
What would a speck of hope do in your life right now?
