top of page
Post: Blog2 Custom Feed
Post: Blog2 Custom Feed
Search
The Power of Hope and Faith
- Clara Magallanes
- Dec 10, 2020
- 5 min read
Hope and Faith
No matter who we are, life is rarely easy. It can be fun, exciting, and interesting, but most of the time it is challenging. Even though life does not come with an instruction manual we do have a superpower to help us in all the difficult moments. Our superpowers are faith and hope. Together, they show us where we should be and how we can get there.
As life faces us with a pandemic, uncertainty, and worries, it is especially important to hold on to our faith and consider the power of hope.
Reflections on the importance of hope and faith are found in religion, philosophy, and literature.
Hope is broadly defined as a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. It’s an emotional state that promotes the belief in a positive outcome. As we find ourselves with the need to live our faith and continue to hope and trust, we might wonder if it makes a difference.
In my professional experience, faith and hope seem to be an important factor in life when facing adversity, experiencing fear. Hope and faith make a big difference in our lives, paving the path for resilience, and helping us find the courage to keep on moving forward.
Scientific Evidence
There is actually increasing scientific evidence that hope and faith change us psychologically and physiologically. In other words, that hope actually makes a difference.
In a study involving 21,000 people in six countries over three years, it was recognized that people trapped in a cycle of suffering poverty, in despair, with low self-esteem and feelings of hopelessness, believed they couldn’t change their lives through their own activities.
The power of the study is the surprising finding that when people are given a gift of hope (be it a goat or bees), they experience a boost of self-esteem and life circumstances that is self-fulfilling and continues even after the program ends. According to the researchers’ impression of the findings, we learn a powerful lesson. We learn about "the power of hope."
In a 20-year study of mothers with a history of depression, Lisa Miller found that those practicing a religious faith were less likely to suffer from recurrence of the condition. Miller subsequently linked regular spiritual practice to a thickening of the brain’s cortex, which thins in chronically depressed people.
How Can We Hold On To Hope and Continue to Live our Faith?
An important factor that is vital to holding on to hope is our faith and human connection. In the face of difficulties and emotional pain, it is very often prayer, faith, and the connection to those we love, that helps us hold on to hope and be able to carry on.
Holocaust Survivor, Elie Wiesel tells us, “…Just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.”
It seems that we need hope and it seems that hope makes a difference in our lives. Does hope dispel all pain, take away all sorrow, cure-all illness? No, but it gives us the courage to keep working, praying, connecting, believing, and moving forward.
Advent, Holidays, and Christmas Time
During the holidays, Christmas evokes all kinds of emotions for many of us. There is grief of loved ones lost during Christmases past and anxiety about how to handle difficult times. There is stress when we add an item or yet another thing to do to our ever-expanding to-do list. There is a sense of wonder when we drive through town and gaze up at all the lights, wreaths, and Christmas decorations reminding us to hold on to the magical feeling we felt when we were kids.
Overall, though Christmas inspires hope. The symbols and stories surrounding the birth of Jesus remind us to not give up and to keep going. Advent and Christmas time, teach us a lesson of hope and optimism.
In a recent article by Therese Borchard, she shares with us 7 beautiful ways Christmas teaches us about hope.
1) Follow the North Star
An epiphany refers to a sudden realization about the meaning of something. For Christians, the Epiphany is associated with the visit of the Wise Men to Jesus. They were guided by the Star of Bethlehem that heralded the newborn king of the Jews. The Epiphany teaches us to trust our North Star, the voice inside of us that is guided by the Spirit and will direct us to goodness and truth. The story of the Magi inspires hope that if we follow our epiphanies, we will, like the Wise Men, arrive at the place we were meant to be.
2) Believe
Christmas is about believing in things that defy logic: the Son of God being born to a virgin in a stable filled with farm animals. This holy season prompts us to become childlike in our faith: to think with our hearts rather than our brains, to embrace a world beyond our own, trusting that God is with us every day. Christmas inspires faith – in God and in His goodness, truth, and beauty that are very real but not always visible.
3) Say Yes
Perhaps the greatest story of courage ever told was Mary’s three-word response to the angel Gabriel when he explained to her that she would bear the Son of God. “Let it be,” she said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord.” With great humility, she opens herself to God’s will and submits to His plan, even though she knows none of the details. By uttering her Fiat (Latin for “Let it be”) she initiates the Christmas story and the arrival of God into human history. Mary’s response also generates hope for all believers – that by saying yes to God we participate in the Christian story and find meaning that sustains us.
4) Talk to Your Angels
The angel Gabriel may not appear to us as vividly as he did to Mary, but we are all surrounded by angels that we can call on for guidance and assistance whenever we need it. Like an inspired GPS system, they help navigate the way, getting us from Point A to Point B, if we choose to access their help. Christmas reminds us of the active presence of angels in our lives. They sit at the top of decorated trees as beacons of hope sending the message that we are not alone.
5) Embrace Your Royalty
Purple or violet has traditionally been the color of Advent. It symbolizes an anticipation of the coming King, as well as royalty and nobility. The first candle of the Advent Wreath is the Candle of Hope, representing the arrival of something new and profound. Advent teaches us to anticipate the good things that we can’t see and to remember the presence of the royal King in our lives, who bestows upon us gifts beyond measure. As sons and daughters of the King, we are part of the royal family. We can embrace our nobility and wear purple year-round.
6) Consider the Evergreen
Evergreens decorate our homes and churches during Christmas, reminding us of the promise of everlasting life and our ability to weather hardship. The evergreen remains unchanged through the seasons, inspiring a message of hope to persevere through adversity. The Christmas tree is a symbol of Christ, the miracle of Christmas, and God’s gift of life. The green boughs on a Christmas wreath or a garland point us to the perennially freshness of life -- that even when we feel as though our world is growing stale, there is always an element of newness and rebirth.
7) Persist in Darkness
Light shines brightest in darkness. That’s the heart of the Christmas story, an overriding message of hope that is articulated beautifully in the lyrics of “O Holy Night”: “O holy night, the stars are brightly shining, It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth.” God didn’t come into our world at high noon. He entered our lives in darkness -- showing us the way to light, guiding us towards love, and demonstrating how to overcome shadows and blackness. Christmas teaches us that even when things seem dark, we can trust the everlasting light.
Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page
Comments