i was thinking a lot about hope this weekend. i looked up the defintion just now..Hope is a belief in a positive outcome related to events and circumstances in one's life.
Hope is the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.
To hope is to wish for something with the expectation of the wish being fulfilled, a key condition in unrequited love.
Hopefulness is somewhat different from optimism in that hope is an emotional state, whereas optimism is a conclusion reached through a deliberate thought pattern that leads to a positive attitude.
When used in a religious context, hope carries a connotation of being aware of spiritual truth.
so... i'd like to share 3 people (i don't know them, but they are known by many people in the world) that have blessed me with HOPE. producers of hope, if you will~ first, a man who is inspired by his faith in god to write beautiful pieces of truth for us; second, a woman i just met, whose life has already given me more HOPE , and third, a musician/singer, songwriter, that always blesses my life with truth and HOPE.
there are many many others. friends, family that pour out so much of the father's hope to me. i may share more this week, as my heart reflects on divine HOPE.
GOD is my one true HOPE!
i just read a sermon outloud with chris on the way home from the train
depot saturday; 'a room called remember' by frederick buechner. his writings, teachings.. man.. i can't get enough of the insight and truth that is so eloquent, so god-led and driven; it shakes my brain up! ha! no, really.. my heart is more full of papagod each time.. grateful.
chris loves his works, and what god does to our hearts to challenge us with his real truth. and that truth often, actually always, penetrates our souls to bring us freedom.. and so so much more!
thanks be to the living god!
anne beiler founder of annie's pretzels, came to speak during a worship service sunday and she shared her heart and soul about her life, her past. what held her, and how her past strangled her freedom.. she was hopeless...
i really appreciated her candidness, but more.. how she chose to keep perservering through her mess, her secrets..
i bought her book, 'twist of faith', after she spoke, and she signed the inside page, "Free Indeed!". her and jonas, her hubby, had a vision years ago to help and encourage many to seek out hope.. the HOPE giver. http://www.gapfamilycenter.org/index.php
oh! btw.. she spoke at the republican convention in september this year.. blessed me! http://www.youtube.com/watchv=wSsWIOH3544
sara groves, a singer/songwriter, wrote this song, "it might be hope".
i instantly thought of friends, family and situations that this song could 'speak' to.
i have in on my playlist here on my blog as the starting tune~
You do your work the best that you can
you put one foot in front of the other
life comes in waves and makes its demands
you hold on as well as you're able
You've been here
for a long long time
(chorus)
but Hope has a way of turning its face to you just when you least expect it
walk in a room you look out a window and something there leaves you breathless
you say to yourself
it's been a while since I felt this
but it feels like it might be hope
It's hard to recall what blew out the flame
it's been dark since you can remember
you talk it all through to find it a name
as days go on by without number
You've been here for a long long time
chorus
here are some parts of that sermon that mr. buechner wrote, that i mentioned earlier..
........'then hope. then at last we see what hope is and where it comes from, hope as the driving power and outermost edge of faith. hope stands up to its knees in the past and keeps its eyes on the future. there has never been a time past when god wasn't with us as the strength beyond our strength, the wisdom beyond our wisdom, as whatever it is in our hearts-whether we believe in god or not-that keeps us human enough at least to get by despite everything in our lives that tends to wither the heart and make us less than human. to remember the past is to see that we are here today by grace, that we have survived as a gift.'
......'remember those moments in our lives when christ came to us in countless disguises through people who one way or another strengthened us, comforted us, healed us, judged us, by the power of christ alive within them. all that is the past. all that is what there is to remember. and because that is the past, because we remember, we have this high and holy hope: that what he has done, he will continue to do, that what he has begun in us and our world, he will in unimaginable ways bring to fullness and fruition.'
(taken from: 'a room called remember', uncollected pieces)
info on these authors/writers, and scriptures:
john 8:31, 32 (nlt)
31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
hebrews 4:12 (nlt)
12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
http://www.annbeiler.com/
http://www.frederickbuechner.com/ (coming soon!)
http://www.buechnerinstitute.org/
http://www.saragroves.com/
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