December
2, 2013
[Pastorgraphs now online at ChristSD.com]
Pastorgraphs: “Hope Full”
Yesterday
marked the beginning of the Christian New Year. (Happy New Year!) Many churches
observe the First Sunday of Advent with the lighting of the Advent wreath
candles, the first being the Candle of Hope. The Bible tells us that on that
dark night 2000 years ago the faithful hoped for the coming of the Messiah.
How timely
it was to find Dr. Shane J. Lopez’s book, “Making Hope Happen”. It is the best
and most practical book I have read explaining in simple, yet powerful terms,
what hope is, is not, and most importantly, how to put hope into action in your
life.
As a
psychologist, Lopez’s view of hope was shaped by an encounter with an older
Midwestern farmer (John) who had just learned his kidneys were failing, and
that he would have to undergo dialysis regularly in a not-so-nearby town. With
hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans on his farm and equipment, the farmer
could see no future, and announced he was going home to commit suicide. (Hope
dies when we see no future.) Dr. Lopez worked with the farmer, his wife, and
eventually their estranged son, to set new, short term goals. The doctors
agreed to delay dialysis two weeks so he could get his corn crop in from the
fields. Much to their surprise, after two weeks, his kidney situation improved
so that the doctor’s granted yet another delay for another impeding farm task.
Don’t get
ahead of me. No, Dr. Lopez is not saying having a positive attitude made Farmer
John better. It was his hope that changed. Eventually Farmer John had to begin
dialysis, but with a new future and new goals in mind. He reconciled with his
son, who took over the family farm as Farmer John had planned all along. His
health and well-being improved dramatically because hope replaced hopelessness.
Thanks to
Dr. Lopez’s brilliant book, I offer:
Seven Steps to A Hope Full Life
1.
Hope
matters. Hope
impacts so many aspects of life; including health, happiness, longevity and
success. Dr. Lopez has research to back up these claims, and says, “…how we
hope – determines how well we live our lives”.
2.
Hope
is doing. Hope is a
virtue, which means it is something you “do”, not something you “have” or
“believe”. As a virtue, hope is the golden mean between the vices of fear (the
absence of hope) and euphoria (irrational false hope).
3.
Hope
is not positive thinking or wishing.
Lopez emphasizes that hope is not a “positive attitude” or “wishing” (terms he
calls Mental Fast Food, or Mind Candy). He shows that such mind games may
actually harm hope, robbing the mind of the energy needed to “do” hope.
4.
Hope
is a choice. Too
many have never done the hard work of examining themselves to find out if they
are where they should be, and if not, why? Hope is in your hands. You can
change your hopelessness into hope today.
5.
Hope
enables you to make your future better than the present. Lopez stated, “our relationship
with our future determines how we live today.” He added, “When we’re hopeful,
our ideas and feelings about the future work together. Our thoughts look ahead
and tell us what we need to do today to get where we want to go. Our feelings
lift us up and give us the energy to sustain our effort. Hope is the work of
the heart and the head. Hope happens when our rational selves meet our
emotional selves.”
6.
Hope
is contagious. When
we are hopeful, we inspire hope in those around us. Plus, we are attracted to
other hope full people. Lopez stated, “Hope almost always involves a leap of
faith…Hope inspires us to transcend ourselves. We dream a little bigger. We aim
a little higher.”
7.
Hope
can be learned.
Lopez suggests we practice “nexting”, setting up both short term and long term
goals of what you want to accomplish next. What is the next movie you
want to see, the next book to read, the next goal to accomplish.
If you are
hopeless today, most likely you, at “Point A”, (where you are today), have lost
sight of your “Point B”, (where you want to be tomorrow, next year, ten years
from now) or how to get there. Like Farmer John, you might have to reset your
goals, but to have no hopes for tomorrow is the fast lane to hopelessness and
despair.
and it is
no coincidence that 1 Corinthians 13 places hope between faith and love as the
three greatest virtues that will never die. So go out and “do” hope today!
Devotedly
yours, Bill Jenkins, Pastor
From the
Quote Garden:
“Hope is the anchor of the soul.”
~ Hebrews 6:19 ~
Christ United Methodist Ministry
Center
“Christ
in the Heart of San Diego”
3295
Meade Avenue - San Diego, CA 92116 - (619) 284-9205
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