Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.
~Mark Twain
There's a song that's being played over and over these days by Rhianna that is basically titled, We Found Love, (In A Hopeless Place). I like the song but the radio stations are quite literally playing it to death. It's what I term, a "raver tune", one of those with a frenzied beat the ravers girate and be-bop all over the place to. And there aren't many lyrics to the song other than what is also the title.
Yellow Diamonds In The Light
And We're Standing Side By Side
As Your Shadow Crosses Mine
What It Takes To Come Alive
It's The Way I’m Feeling I Just Can't Deny
But I've Gotta Let It Go
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
Shine A Light Through An Open Door
Love And Life I Will Divide
Turn Away Cause I Need You More
Feel The Heartbeat In My Mind
It's The Way I'm Feeling I Just Can't Deny
But I’ve Gotta Let It Go
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
Yellow Diamonds In The Light
And We're Standing Side By Side
As Your Shadow Crosses Mine...
We Found Love In A Hopeless Place
So those are the lyrics and I think most of us can relate to the basic message of the song. Sometimes we just "gotta let it go".
The song got me to thinking about the many Hopeless Places out there in life. Desolate, barren places that offer us nothing more than the finality of something that at one point in time held so much promise in our life.
The song got me to thinking about the many Hopeless Places out there in life. Desolate, barren places that offer us nothing more than the finality of something that at one point in time held so much promise in our life.
Hope goes hand in hand with desperation, (I think). Granted in some cases the desperation is minimal, maybe even minuscule but for many, we cling to hope as desperatley as an infant clings to it's mother. Having hope in our lives helps fill the void of the mundane reality of accepting where we are as being, well, "where we are" and to accept that what it is,..is "what it is".
In other words, hope is the answer to that proverbial question,..."Is that all there is?"
1. Inborn Hope – Most children have hope, it’s their basic disposition unless adults do something to threaten it. Some people have to struggle for their hope while others seem to have it so easily. It depends on one's individual disposition.
2. Chosen Hope – This is the person with cancer who determinedly chooses to believe that treatment will be successful no matter the current outlook. It’s a parent’s right to hope for a child, even if things don’t look good at the mo-ment. Chosen hope is a life stance.
3. Borrowed Hope – Sometimes another person sees causes for hope in your life more easily than you can. If the person is honest and trustworthy, you can borrow their confidence in you, and their hope for you.
4. Bargainer’s Hope – When a daunting challenge or crisis crashes into our life, we can take a bargainer’s position. This position says, “If I do this, then that will happen,” There’s nothing wrong with bargainer’s hope, it’s human nature and often a first response to something really hard.
5. Unrealistic Hope – This kind of hope belongs to teenagers who believe they could be the next Michael Jordan of basketball. Or the hope created by the promise of a certain cereal will help you lose weight and keep it off for years to come. You’re hoping for things that could happen, but it’s not probable.
6. False Hope – There are silly versions of false hope, like chain letters promising money if you send them along. Or more serious false hopes, like the ones created by nasty insurance schemes that bilk money from people. And everyday examples of false hope, such as the hope that one person, whether friend or spouse, can meet all your needs and make you happy.
7. Mature Hope – A person with this kind of hope can wait. His or her hope is not based on particular outcomes or on a belief that everything will turn out well. Mature hope is based on meaning. In other words, things are worthwhile regardless of how they turn out.
Martin Luther King Jr., took the long view when he said, “The long arm of history bends toward justice.” Mature hope is a hope that jumps in to participate in the desired outcome. It doesn’t give up easily and it can be the most fulfilling.
These 7 kinds of hope can be found in many places throughout our lives.
Hope evolves within as we travel the passages of our lives, arriving at those stages of life that present a more realistic view of where we're headed, (or not headed).
I'd like to add 2 more to the list - Lost Hope and Stolen Hope.
Lost Hope is when we find ourselves in a place that we never EVER intended to go, such as ending up addicted to drugs/alcohol or taking prescribed drugs that alter your mental state, (antidepressants), or afflicted with mental illness.
I also believe, (adamantly), that this takes place when a person contemplates/commits suicide
Stolen Hope is just like it sounds. Hope that is snatched away from us by way of someone else's motives, which are usually selfish and cruel. Violence, whether it be physical or emotional, steals away the hope of it's victim.
The easiest way to end up in a Hopeless Place is to lose faith in something or someone. And the best way to lose faith is to lose trust. This is common in marriages, a spouse betrays the other, trust is destroyed, the betrayed spouse loses faith in the marriage altogether and next thing ya know it becomes a Hopeless Place. What I find alarming is this is what I see happening in regard to our government. Americans are beginning to believe, (more and more every day), that they cannot trust those in office and with faith diminished to almost nothing, Americans will, sooner than later, find themselves living in a Hopeless Place. Which a people without hope are people without the capacity to genuinely and compassionately care about their fellow human beings.
In other words, hope is the answer to that proverbial question,..."Is that all there is?"
7 Kinds Of Hope
1. Inborn Hope – Most children have hope, it’s their basic disposition unless adults do something to threaten it. Some people have to struggle for their hope while others seem to have it so easily. It depends on one's individual disposition.
2. Chosen Hope – This is the person with cancer who determinedly chooses to believe that treatment will be successful no matter the current outlook. It’s a parent’s right to hope for a child, even if things don’t look good at the mo-ment. Chosen hope is a life stance.
3. Borrowed Hope – Sometimes another person sees causes for hope in your life more easily than you can. If the person is honest and trustworthy, you can borrow their confidence in you, and their hope for you.
4. Bargainer’s Hope – When a daunting challenge or crisis crashes into our life, we can take a bargainer’s position. This position says, “If I do this, then that will happen,” There’s nothing wrong with bargainer’s hope, it’s human nature and often a first response to something really hard.
5. Unrealistic Hope – This kind of hope belongs to teenagers who believe they could be the next Michael Jordan of basketball. Or the hope created by the promise of a certain cereal will help you lose weight and keep it off for years to come. You’re hoping for things that could happen, but it’s not probable.
6. False Hope – There are silly versions of false hope, like chain letters promising money if you send them along. Or more serious false hopes, like the ones created by nasty insurance schemes that bilk money from people. And everyday examples of false hope, such as the hope that one person, whether friend or spouse, can meet all your needs and make you happy.
7. Mature Hope – A person with this kind of hope can wait. His or her hope is not based on particular outcomes or on a belief that everything will turn out well. Mature hope is based on meaning. In other words, things are worthwhile regardless of how they turn out.
Martin Luther King Jr., took the long view when he said, “The long arm of history bends toward justice.” Mature hope is a hope that jumps in to participate in the desired outcome. It doesn’t give up easily and it can be the most fulfilling.
These 7 kinds of hope can be found in many places throughout our lives.
Hope evolves within as we travel the passages of our lives, arriving at those stages of life that present a more realistic view of where we're headed, (or not headed).
I'd like to add 2 more to the list - Lost Hope and Stolen Hope.
Lost Hope is when we find ourselves in a place that we never EVER intended to go, such as ending up addicted to drugs/alcohol or taking prescribed drugs that alter your mental state, (antidepressants), or afflicted with mental illness.
I also believe, (adamantly), that this takes place when a person contemplates/commits suicide
Stolen Hope is just like it sounds. Hope that is snatched away from us by way of someone else's motives, which are usually selfish and cruel. Violence, whether it be physical or emotional, steals away the hope of it's victim.
The easiest way to end up in a Hopeless Place is to lose faith in something or someone. And the best way to lose faith is to lose trust. This is common in marriages, a spouse betrays the other, trust is destroyed, the betrayed spouse loses faith in the marriage altogether and next thing ya know it becomes a Hopeless Place. What I find alarming is this is what I see happening in regard to our government. Americans are beginning to believe, (more and more every day), that they cannot trust those in office and with faith diminished to almost nothing, Americans will, sooner than later, find themselves living in a Hopeless Place. Which a people without hope are people without the capacity to genuinely and compassionately care about their fellow human beings.
Hopeless Places are dark, despairing and bitter cold.
But how do we escape these Hopeless Places?
Are we doomed to dwell there without a way out? Well, as a Christian, clinging to Jesus is my way out. I open my bible and there it is, the Light of Hope. It sheds a brilliant illuminated path leading me out of the darkness towards His Promise, the only promise I Trust and have Faith in.
May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing
through the experience of your faith that by the power of the Holy Spirit
you may abound and be overflowing bubbling over with hope.
~Romans 15: 13
The world is filling up with Hopeless Places at an alarming rate. Our foundation of trust has all but eroded and washed away. Our faith languishes and looming ahead is the Hopeless Place of all Hopeless Places.
The solution is simple for me because God and His Beloved Son provide the Hope I need to bypass all the Hopeless Places in my life. Without that, the way I see it, it really is hopeless. But it doesn't have to be unless we let it.
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.
~Psalm 119: 114
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