This is a blog post by Heather-Jane Ozanne the co-ordinator of our Towards Human Flourishing Special Interest Group and a member of the LSC Working and Discernment Group.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast. – Alexander Pope
Much has been written about the power of hope and opinion seems to be divided on its’ usefulness and value. Some see hope as something negative – leading to apathy and inertia. Others point to ‘false hope’ attributing to it the means of making life bearable, other see in it quite the opposite, the devastating effect when a false hope is revealed as precisely that – false.
More often I believe hope is seen as something positive, it can keep us going and strengthen resolve when times are tough or uncertainty abounds. It can be a motivating and revivifying force.
Episcopal Priest and author, Cynthia Bourgeault points out the optimism that can ensue from hope, ‘In our usual way of looking at things, hope is tied to outcome. We would normally think of it as an optimistic feeling – or at least a willingness to go on – because we sense that things will get better in the future’.
However, hope like love is a quality that is multifaceted and not always easy to put into words. I would like to consider here a few aspects of hope that I find particularly helpful and are perhaps not so commonly recognised. One aspect described in the following quotation:
Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out. -Václav Havel, Disturbing the Peace (1986)
Here we see hope as something which is not connected to outcome but to something which seems right at an inner level. It brings with it a sense that we must be a certain way, or do a certain thing because it has intrinsic value in itself – regardless of the outcome. It is a quality of being, even a way of life, going beyond positive thinking into positive living.
Today I hear many people expressing a sense of hopelessness about the many huge challenges facing our world, from climate challenges and loss of biodiversity to polarisation and growing inequality.
Havel provides a counter to this despair:
Even a purely moral act that has no hope of any immediate and visible political effect can gradually and indirectly, over time, gain in political significance.
This is a crucial factor in what I think of as “participatory hope”. This kind of hope is a quality of the heart. The deep heart which sees all things , connects all things, holds all things together in compassionate love. Hope can be both a call and the fuel for action.
In the words of peace activist, Fr John Dear, ‘to be hopeful, do hopeful things’.
There is a growing emphasis on the daily practice of expressing gratitude and how it can lead to a more fulfilled life, from religious teachings to the evidence- based insights from the field of Positive Psychology.
Here, I would like to suggest a practice of regularly reflecting on what hopeful actions one can take no matter what the situation and then going out and doing them!
Following a week that many across the world have found painful and troubling. I was delighted to receive a message that wisdom teacher Cynthia Bourgeault has recorded a response to the Elections in the US, which is an excellent demonstration of the way in which regular contemplative practices such as centreing prayer can enable us to bring stillness and skillfulness to our responses, and to act as a non-reactive “third force” that stays in touch with the vision of oneness of humanity that is key to Christ’s ministry.