Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Strategic Monk

Home
Contemplative
Spiritual Practices From the Inside Out: Discerning Hope

Spiritual Practices From the Inside Out: Discerning Hope

Last updated on: March 4, 2017 at 4:40 am by Greg Richardson

Spiritual Practices From the Inside Out: Discerning Hope 2017-03-04T04:40:50-08:00 Greg Richardson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hope is the spark which lights the fire of inspiration. Without hope, why would we go on trying?

What is hope? Some people say hope is a feeling, or a positive attitude. People tell me they are more hopeful in the morning, less hopeful as the day continues.

Some people tell me we receive what we are looking for, what we expect to receive. Now, I do not know about you, but there have been plenty of times when life did not go as I expected. It did not help me to clarify and articulate my desire, it still did not happen. We may be able to explain or even justify when that takes place, but it still did not happen. What I hoped for did not come true.

I believe hope is more than just getting more of what I want. Hope is something deeper, more sacred than what I expect.

Hope for Lent

My church is just beginning a liturgical season called Lent. Many people choose to either give something up or begin a new discipline during Lent, in preparation for Easter. I have followed this practice. One year I gave up Netflix, another year I gave up fear. Lent has been an opportunity for me to begin behaving in ways which changed the rest of my life.

This year I am discerning and practicing hope for Lent. For me, this year, hope is more significant that chocolate or social media.

A Strong Crop of Hope

I am slowly, surely beginning to appreciate the value of hope.

Hope was not the most important quality where I was raised. It was more helpful, often, to be persistent or resilient than hopeful. Having a “positive attitude” was viewed as a sign of weakness. People who looked at life positively probably did not understand how difficult it could be. It was far more helpful to continue in the face of impossible odds than to hope everything would be OK. Hope was something that could make people weak. Hopeful people probably were not as prepared or as strong as they should be.

I was raised in a culture with an appreciation for a good worst case scenario.

The seeds of my hope were cultivated in a harsh environment. Hope which was not sufficiently strong to survive hostility was not strong enough.

Cold winters may have dashed some of my early hopes. The crop of hope that survived until spring was resilient.

Hope Has a Long Growing Season

Strong hope can take a long time to grow. It needs to send out roots underground long before anything visible sprouts.

Hope is a labor intensive crop. It needs to be fertilized and watered, weeded and tended. Hope does not grow overnight, and can be attacked by predators. It takes patience and persistence to produce hope.

It can be easy for us to take a vacation, to leave our hope to fend for itself for a while. The fact is our hope does not grow unless we are paying attention.

I will spend this season of Lent exploring, tending, discerning hope. We may even plant another field or two. It takes hard work to produce a good crop of hope.

Where do we discern hope?

Who has planted and cultivated our hope?

[Image by Narcissistic Tendencies]

Blog

Spiritual Practices

Previous Post

March 2, 2017

Monastic Leadership

Next Post

March 7, 2017 Making a Real Difference: Spending Our Days Wisely

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Book Reviews Everything Else Guest Posts Leadership Monastic Strategies Neighborhood Pilgrimages Sacred Stillness Spiritual Direction Spiritual Practices Work

Select a Month May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Balaam's donkey spoke to him.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE