Hope

Giving thought to the meaning of Easter - besides egg hunts and ham dinners - I started to wondering; when they tried Jesus what crimes were they accusing him of? After pondering what the history books tell us I thought more on it - Jesus walked the Earth, he cured the ill, fed the hungry, clothed the homeless, and he spoke of love, tolerance, patience, giving, loving - Jesus spoke of everlasting life for those who chose to follow in his footsteps.  Jesus was offering hope to those individuals held down by a caste system, a government run by greed and fear - Jesus was offering hope.  How that must have frightened the powers that were.  See if you offer people hope, you empower them.  Empowered people are more likely to rise against tyranny.  History documents how hope knocked down walls, toppled tyrannies, overcame circumstances - Hope kept the ill alive until a cure was found - in some cases, hope itself kept people alive and cured them in and of itself.  Hope allows us to walk away from a bad situation, or take a risk for a better future.  Jesus was convicted of bogus crimes.  It was his offering of hope which caused those soldiers to nail him to that cross.  Like us, Jesus questioned God - "Why have you forsaken me?" How many times have we felt that same way? We wonder how a child can overcome abuse and neglected, move forward in their lives and end up thriving adults - HOPE.  It is not enough to sit by and hope.  Hope empowers us.  We get up off the couch and move forward. We clean out that backpack, put on our big girl boots and move forward - When it is dark, when we are afraid, when there appears only closed doors; It is hope that starts to light our way.  Hope we begin to follow until we are strong enough so we can walk on our own.  The brave souls who followed Jesus, despite the cost of their own lives - they did so because they believed in what Jesus was saying.  Where are we today? In a terrible recession, wars all over the world, a government run by greed and ego...where are we now? Poverty in the USA is at an all time high.  Our prison our filled with individuals who have hope.  There are those who would rather cry about what they don't have than to roll up their sleeves, take advantage of what they do have; people who find it easier to lament the wrongs - those who feel hopeless.  Yet, there are individuals, who in spite of life's circumstances walk hard and strong - those who will hold that last thread of hope - those whose hope brings them to faith - faith that the steps we take on Earth will bring us closer to our everlasting life.  The life promised to us by a simple man who was murdered for peddling hope.  Sometimes I hope the Mets might win another World Series, while I am still alive to enjoy it - then I think how silly, hope is a valuable gift not meant for waste on sporting events or lottery tickets.  However, hope is meant for exactly these things - watching my beloved Mets gives me 3 or so hours away from reality, this reprieve offers time to recharge my batteries - it refills my "hope" tank. Oprah probably doesn't hope to win the lottery.  In fact, Oprah's life is a big lottery win.  She overcame abuse, neglect, sexism, and racism because she had a dream and she held her hope.  Oprah kept her faith, did the work, and look where she is now.  I believe the richest woman in the world.  As a teacher, the pendulum swings both ways.  Some children rise above the drudgery of their everyday lives - every morning their smile gives me hope.  Other children are not able to find that hope. I watch them sink and wonder how to infuse them with hope.  Hope and faith are not necessarily religious in nature - they are conditions of being human.  As Jesus was human, a man walking among people, he was human - not better than any person - perhaps more enlightened, but not better.  Listen to the leader of a cult.  They too are offering hope.  Makes difficult social times such as those we live in today more frightening, people are vulnerable, they are searching for something to believe in, they are looking for hope.  Before the turn of the century there were a plethora of organizations offering underground bunkers from which you could survive the end of time - I know people who invested their entire life savings buying one of these bunkers - the bunker offered hope.  Shoot even those who put money in the stock market are hoping their stock goes up.  We hope for good fortune, a good meal, a good nights sleep, health, love - hope leads us to faith - faith has many different faces, however breath it gives each of us is the same.  There is a higher power helping us navigate the confusing and often hostile waters of our human condition. Neither hope nor faith alone will "get'r done." In and of themselves they are really just words - It is what we do with the words, how we transform words into actions, beliefs, into change - this is hope and faith.  As I said at the beginning, Jesus was murdered because he was offering hope and thus faith.  MLK and JFK, they were assassinated for offering the same things.  When life appears its most bleak, when our well is drained, our eyes weary, our souls tired - hope and faith keep us moving.  We believe in one another and this gives us strength - more importantly, we believe.  This is it, we believe.  Many have died in God's name and many have killed in God's name - It is living as Jesus lived, this is our challenge.  It is loving the least amongst us.  It is teaching tolerance, acceptance - speaking against hatred.  It is walking with our head held high in spite of our circumstances.  Hope gets us up in the morning and helps us sleep at night.  Oh sure, I hope the Jets play better next year and win the Super Bowl - I also hope we bring home the men and women protecting us on foreign soils.  I have faith our leaders will put aside politics and find the common ground of humanity - I hope you don't walk past the next homeless person you see avoiding eye contact.  Even if you don't give them a penny, just a smile and a hello - this might be the key to their hope chest.  We don't know. We don't know when one small act of kindness becomes a seed of hope for someone else.  For this reason, we should always engage in acts of kindness; it isn't that hard - OK, sometimes it is really hard; a lot of mean people out there.  Or maybe they are individuals who have lost their hope and maybe we hold the key.  Castro, Ghadafi, that dude in Korea - they use their military to squash the hopes of people - people however, they keep rising up don't they.  Since the times of Jesus, when he showed us the power of hope - people rise.  If the energy we put out is the energy we receive, then I choose hope.  I choose to put forth positive energy.  I look to surround myself with people who exude positive energy - hope - I exist each day with the faith in the kindness of others - and the hope, if I do a good job down here, then one day I too can go home.  Until then, I am hoping the Mets win, I am hoping someone I know wins the lottery (and wants to share), I hope spring comes to the North Country :), I hope I can finish this paper and cross that Masters off my bucket list...and on and on I could go - I will peddle hope, offer hope, use hope and my walking stick, and my pushing stick - The work must be done - I have to do the work, isn't magnificent I have the opportunity to even begin the work.  How blessed I am.  How filled with hope - even in the darkness, I don't turn on the lights; I close my eyes and follow my hope - and when I feel so heavy and tired I lean on my faith, filled with love of family and friends - yes, all things are possible (OK, except the Mets thing) even if I don't finish my bucket list before I kick the bucket I do have faith, and that future, the time beyond this time, that is even more beautiful. How amazing is that?