Thoughts on Hope – 9

bolinas_cloudsIt was a chilly, overcast day when the horseman spied the little sparrow lying on its back in the middle of the road. Reining in his mount, he looked down and inquired of the fragile creature, “Why are you lying upside down like that?”

“I heard the heavens are going to fall today,” replied the bird.

The horseman laughed. “And I suppose your spindly legs can hold up the heavens?”

“One does what one can,” said the little sparrow.

– Source unknown

Thoughts on Hope – 8

Our belief in resurrection - a belief in hope
Our belief in resurrection – a belief in hope

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.

– I have seen this quote attributed to several people, but I believe it is by Vaclav Havel

Thoughts on Hope – 7

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.

– Helen Keller

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Thoughts on Hope – 6

The case for hope has never rested on provable facts or rational assessment. Hope by its very nature is independent of the apparatus of logic.

– Norman Cousins

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Thoughts on Hope – 5

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And every day, no matter how bitter it be, I will say: “From tomorrow on, I shall be sad.” Not today.

– A young Jewish child of the holocaust

Thoughts on Hope – 4

Crocus - the first hope of spring
Crocus – the first hope of spring

Compassionate actions rarely flow from despair or hopelessness, they are born out of hope.

– Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer

Thoughts on Hope – 3

In the dark of the moon, in flying snow, in the dead of winter,
war spreading, families dying, the world in danger,
I walk the rocky hillside, throwing clover.

– Wendell Barry “February 2, 1968” from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry

I believe the title of Berry’s poem refers to the Tet Offensive  . . . a dark time in history. In times of violence and war it may feel impossible to muster any hope, but it, like the clover, is needed then – like now – more than ever.

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Thoughts on Hope – 2

chrissy_field_morningHope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come.

-Anne Lamott

Thoughts on Hope – 1

On Optimism and Pessimism
(as opposed to authentic Hope)

An optimist says, in effect, “Don’t worry, it’s going to turn out all right.” A pessimist says, “It’s going down the drain and there’s nothing you can do about it” Both get us off the hook. Our place is on the hook. Whether things turn out for the better depends on what we do. We ought not spend our time masterminding the future, but recognize our marching order: to do the best we can for history and the planet. One of my favorite prayers was written by a 9-year old. His mother found it scribbled on a note beside his bed, “Dear God, I’m doing the best I can.”

-Huston Smith in “Datebook”, San Francisco Chronicle, May 24, 2009

How are we "on the hook"?
How are we “on the hook”?

Wisdom of Joseph Campbell

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with nature.

– Joseph Campbell

Getting in rhythm with the flight of the geese
Getting in rhythm with the flight of the geese