Optimism of Spirit
October 14, 2024
What is the most difficult thing you face now? Where and when are you going to receive the answers to this challenge? Sometimes, the answers come much later than we expect. Until they appear, we may feel ignored by God, or as if we are wandering alone in a spiritual desert. What will sustain you while you wait for your answers and arrive at your decision or solution?
Hope sustains us. Faith sustains us. Will sustains us. Today, let’s reflect on Hope. What is Hope? First of all, Hope is the optimism of spirit. It’s the inner knowing that our good is always on its way, even when we cannot see the evidence of it. Our good is all that blesses us and brings us into the fullness of our lives. When we live in soul, we revel in our blessings and in harnessing Love, and we know that these will never stop. This perception gives us the energy to anticipate the best outworking possible. But there is a caveat: the best possible outworking may not be what we hope for. Real Hope lies in relinquishing to the Divine, our idea of the perfect outworking.
In claiming our Hope, we refuse to give our unhealthy ego any airtime. The unhealthy ego is the greatest antagonist when we are waiting. It says, “There is no hope, all is lost, we are dead meat.” But the soul silences the unhealthy ego by unleashing its harnessed Love. From Love unleashed, hope springs forth.
When Lark and I wanted to become parents, and it wasn’t happening, we nearly lost Hope. We had many disappointments and losses, and it seemed as if we would never have a baby. All our efforts were futile, but we never lost complete Hope. We finally prayed the following: “Dear God, you placed our desire to be parents in us. We have done all we can do to make that come true. If you want us to be the mother and father to children, please make it happen, or please take away our desire to be parents. Amen”
We didn’t know it then, but ours was a form of “prayer of relinquishment” outlined by Catherine Marshall in her book Beyond Ourselves. We can hope, but if our Hope is hitched to the star of our ego’s wishes and its story, we may be standing in the way of our own good. This was the case for Lark and me. Once we gave up our Hope for a specific outcome, a way opened. In the next few weeks, our son Ben came to us, and we were eternally blessed.
Spiritual practice: Think of what you hope for. If you haven’t already, have a conversation with God about it. Consider recording that conversation on an audio file. You can add other conversations and prayers as time goes on.
Self-inquiry: What may be standing in the way of your Hope coming true?
Dear God,
I hope for the best but frequently do not know what the best is. Open me to all the possibilities that my mind may be closed to. Amen
