The Need For Hope
“Not all lost then was our hope, Our proud hope so old yet new … “1
These phrases from Hatikva, a Hebrew word meaning “the hope” express a feeling that though much may have been lost, there is still hope – a new, revitalized hope.
Hope is “the only good that is common to all men,” wrote a Greek philosopher. “Those who have nothing else, possess hope still.”2
Disappointment and frustration result when we cannot realize our hopes. But the challenge of hope is to exert oneself to effort or activity when life seems most hopeless.
Former U. S. President Lyndon Johnson said, “Unfortunately, many [people] live on the outskirts of hope…Our task is to help replace their despair with opportunity.”3
We have a moral responsibility not only to cherish our own hopes and dreams, but to be concerned and aware of the hopes and dreams – and needs – of those around us.
From a prayer, we read, “[Help us] that we may neither grow proud through success, nor become embittered by failure. May we sympathize with those whose hopes have been disappointed and whose labors have been unfruitful.”4
When we build our hopes, let us knit them together with the hopes of others; let us search for that which is righteous, wholesome, and uplifting; let us hope for peace, love and happiness; for character, wisdom and understanding.
Wilferd Peterson summed it up this way:
“The well-known maxim, ‘While there is life, there is hope,’ has deeper meaning in reverse: ‘While there is hope, there is life.’ Hope comes first, life follows. Hope gives power to life. Hope rouses life to continue to expand, to grow, to reach out, to go on. Hope sees a light where there isn’t any. Hope lights candles in millions of despairing hearts.”5
Where there is hope, there is life.
1From the song Hatikva, words adapted by L.C. Zucker
2Thales (Epictetus, Fragment xci)
3Lyndon B. Johnson
4Floyd H. Ross and Tynette Hills, The Great Religions By Which Men Live, Succos: The Feast of Tabernacles
5Wilfred A. Peterson, The Art of Hope
April 16, 1972
Broadcast Number 2,221