Hope During the Holidays

The Advent season is a time of preparation for the coming of Christmas and the reminder of the birth of Jesus. What does this mean for us in our everyday hurried lives during this busy season? To me, it is a time of peace, hope and joy. Let’s focus on the hope today. Hold onto the thought that hope will get us through. That doesn’t mean that we always get what we hope for, but that we are, in the end, always protected and strengthened to get through what comes in our lives.

Advent is a time of hope, and that can be very welcome during times of war , financial crisis, and other challenges. On some days I believe hope is one of the only things we do have (an object) and a step we can take (hope is an action). When I was at church a week or so ago this was brought home to me again by Fr. Garrett Galvin of Franciscan School of Theology. I’m sure I’ve used the word in both ways, and yet I’d not acknowledged the fact it was both action and thing, verb and noun. If one has a spiritual connection, I do believe it may be easier. But hope, in the end, is the mental or spiritual or emotional trust that something will happen or come to be in the future. I saw a picture when perusing the Internet looking for some different views of hope. The Christian view of hope at this time of Advent is that of focusing on light instead of darkness; the Judaic of Hannukah is hope in the midst of darkness. Essentially the message of hope is to trust that there will be light, brightness, change, or answers once the day is again well-lit or the time of difficulty passes. 

Henri Nouwen wrote of radical hope:  He wrote that it is waiting with openness and trust – (wow, hard to do!) that “something is happening for us that is far beyond our own imaginings.”  I have to tell you, that is not something I can do daily – leaning far beyond into a Source, for me a source of strength from my God despite anything that I might encounter in life. I may seek to be that strong, but it is a daily choice.

And that’s the funny thing about hope, it is a choice, and it is a gift. We don’t always realize this, but it’s true. I know how hard it is to hope amid those dark seasons. When all one has hoped for or believed to be true is suddenly turned upside down, leaving us bereft, questioning the reality of all one believes or holds sacred in life or a relationship. So how to change and lean in more fully to hope?

It takes daily living in hope to finally feel it. It can be unbelievably difficult, but hope demands we keep moving before we feel it. The paradox I’ve found to be true is that I must act on hope, trusting I will eventually feel it, and by the time I do the most challenging times have finally passed.  I want to feel it before and during the tough time. But while I consciously hold onto the thought of it, the feeling comes after recovery from cancer, after one has finalized the divorce on all levels and gone on to live a new life, or after one’s energy rebuilds following surgery or chemotherapy. Or has it? Isn’t hope the living – the belief things will get better…and the time we can see the results the effect of the hope?  Think about how that might apply in your life. You might be surprised to find you have some hope – you’re just not acting on or living it.

Make no mistake, living a radical hope in which one believes life will improve beyond one’s expectations, is not easy. And, especially during this Advent season, lean into your Higher Power, and trust in the hope that things will get better. It will give one some modicum of peace in the moment. Despite the migraines, nausea, sleepless nights, or worried days we may also experience, hope says “but this will change and improve eventually.”  So, through personal crisis, or preparation for Christmas, or through Hanukkah, or as one tends the crops before Kwanzaa–may the last weeks of Advent and December be a month of radical hope for you.

Take care,
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Dr. Beth