Hope

One of the many contributions of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was to offer hope, and hope is part of his legacy.

Hope is vital.

Without hope, without belief, it's impossible for anything to improve. Hope shows us how things can be, gives us something toward which to strive, gives us the strength and motivation to overcome obstacles and keep going when prospects look bleak, and bestows upon us the belief in ourselves and in our possible outcome that allow us to not only endure but to persevere and, hopefully, succeed.

Hope, literally, is life itself: true life, the life of caring, striving, seeking, believing. Without hope, we are lost, afloat, hollow shells. 

This world can be discouraging; this world can make it a real challenge to hold onto our hope. But hope is our greatest treasure; when we possess it, when we have something to focus on and move toward, the tendrils can't pull us completely into the depths. When the light of hope still burns within us, the darkness of despair can never completely overcome us.

So tend to your hope as you would a fire in freezing weather when you had no other source of heat. Be mindful of the hope of others as well; handle it gently, build it and bolster it when you can.

Be honest, but be gentle, with others and with yourself. Hope is beautiful, delicate, and necessary, but delusion is toxic. Beware the difference.

Hope sustains us. As long as we have hope, we can have joy, even in the deepest depths. Hope is what allows us to follow the advice attributed to The Right Honourable Sir Winston Churchill, "If you're going through hell, keep going."

I would say that hope is one of the things that make us human, but perhaps hope is more even than that; perhaps hope is Divine.