HOPE

One of my favourite quotes is by Vaclav Havel who quipped “Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turn out” and that brings me to the subject that evokes much fascination and adoration if nothing less than being idolised by what it represents; HOPE. Personally, I love to think of hope as a reverent thing. An attribute that the Deity blesses his loving creation with. Even to the most lackadaisical pessimist and cynic, deep inside themselves lies a ray of hope. You see, Hope has stood the test of time and evidently it is something that always gives and never takes away. Hope has held the testimony that it never fails in its promise and whenever summoned, it works up with zeal and most importantly, its suffice to say we can look forward to it with desire and reasonable confidence.

I am amazed by the audacity of hope. It doesn’t segregate and always beckons at everyone’s heart when all around seem dark. Its soft, soothing voice infuses into our soul everytime we’re engulfed with the hurt and trials of life. In my young life, I have come to appreciate and encourage the idea of Hope as a resonant melody of my frail heart. I have discovered that the myopic nature of my human reasoning and interpretations of my life huddles cannot be easily overcome without hope for a better tomorrow, a better world and, indeed, a better me. I have looked far and beyond and saw that the greatest and the wisest of people to have walked on this earth had hope as a constant chaperone on their fickle, treacherous journey to redemption.

Among my idolised heroes of the modern day and also a living legend, Nelson Mandela, while facing a grim future of life behind bars for his noble cause of a better South Africa and was quoted in his famous speech before being sentenced to life imprisonment that “..During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I HOPE to live for and to achieve”. We all know how that story turned up to be. The fight for a liberated Kenya was hinged on hope. Tales of the Holocaust are told of how the Jewish captives, while being led to the gas chambers by the Nazis, sang songs of Hope as they resigned to the fact that though mortal men could kill their physical bodies, their souls had a hope to rest in the realm of the Heavenlies with the Creator. It is hope that the Lord’s apostles persevered and faithfully spread the gospel. For in hope, we retire at night after a long day to rest and look forward to a brighter day tomorrow. That we read, sing, relate and work. We do it for Hope.

Hope is not just a word, but it can mean many things. it is an emotion at best, at worst ...it is lost. Caleb Colton, an English cleric, painter and writer, while going through a tumultuous period in his life, wrote that “ Times of general calamity and confusion have ever been productive of the greatest minds. The purest Ore is produced from the hottest furnace and brightest thunderbolt is the one elicited from the darkest room” And I would add a room full of Hope. For though hope wears different hats to different people, its inherent virtue is always the same. It makes up the substance of things that Faith is built upon. For the Bible puts it that ‘Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not yet seen” Hebrews 11: 1. Hope, therefore, is a key ingredient of the heavenly currency ; Faith. But I won’t digress with my endless superlatives about Faith. Maybe another time. In short as I conclude, I offer it to you that among the triumvirate of God’s gifts for our daily sustenance is hope. 1 Corinthians 13: 13 “And now these three remain; Faith, Hope and Love. But the greatest of these is Love” .As such, I will totally fall short of the point if I do not say that Hope by itself, though sufficient, is diligently espoused to Faith and Love. Hope therefore and do not give up.