The Faces of Hope- Power and Surrender

Earned lesson number one, as covered in my previous posting, was that abiding hope is long suffering.  As discussed, abiding for any period of time requires one to discover the active nature of the term, beyond its passive exterior.  Earned lesson number two has more to do with results and actions related to abiding hope.  Lesson number two is that hope has a face of both power and surrender.

Power.  What a word, right?  One glance at the news, ourselves or an experience driving on a highway displays the different facets of power.  Power evokes.  We see so many striving for it.  And sometimes, combined with hope, it is survival at its core.

Last night Robin Roberts was doing a special for 20/20.  The show detailed the lives of two of the three girls who were abducted and lived chained in a house for 10 years or so.  One of the girls shared about their only connection to the outside world being a little black and white TV that was kept in the basement.  As life seemed to pass them by, they would catch glimmers of hope, one that seemed to catch Robin off guard.  One of the girls shared that one of the most encouraging things she saw was just after Hurricane Katrina.  Robin's family had been in the wake of the storm, and Robin was visibly upset while reporting on the devastation and that her family were all okay.  Amanda Berry, shared that she saw Robin's resiliency and was encouraged that one day she too would be free.  Today she is.

At one point in the program they showed the girls tracing the outline of a small metal home decor item that their perpetraitor brought home from a craft fair.  They would trace it over and over.  It was the word HOPE.  This also inspired the title for the upcoming book, Hope, A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland.

Hope paired with power can persevere under extraordinary circumstances.  

However, power, unharnessed under hope can become corrosive to one's self and those that surround them.  It appears that the power of hope must also be bridled by surrender.  Surrender itself can be taken in so many ways.  It, like abiding, can appear weak, passive or lacking of soul.  However, coming to the point of surrender requires the giving up of self, and that in itself is no easy feat.  

For me, this is the new angel I wrestle.  Surrendering in hope has brought me to see the ugliness in pride.  As pride is revealed to me I begin to wonder- how much pride can one person contain?  And then another instance occurs where I bear offense, I  become self preserving, and begin to swallow my self in self.  Thankfully the action and result of abiding hope seems to be a status of surrender.  God is able to get my eyes off myself and look to Him for defining, for Calling, and for extending grace.  Power and pride are cancerous and slowly choke out the life of grace. Hope balanced in power and surrender draws me to say.... I leave my pride at the door, and choose to walk out in dignity.

The Faces of Hope- Abiding Hope

It seems you can go to any home décor store and find an inspirational quote about hope on a variety of items.  You've got options- framed art, mugs, and even refrigerator magnets.  Hope looks so pretty and inspiring from these quaint frames of reference, and there must be a market where people want to be reminded of hope in these various ways, or the home goods stores might not capitalize on it so much.

 

 

However, the experience of hope takes a little more than a purchase of $24.95.  I'm also cautious to say that the experience of hope has many faces.  More than a slogan or mental high five to keep us driven or even taking that next step, hope has some serious repercussions for anyone who might decide they want to hold onto it.

 

Earned lesson number one- abiding hope is long-suffering.  There is something about hope that can withstand the test of time.  The question then becomes- Can you?  Hope enables us to see a realm of possibilities and potential, but also a sense that the reality is one that is to come.  We as humans, and likely as Westerners, don't know how to hold a vision and not actively take steps to pursue it in the next moments.  We feel that time not spent on that next goal is wasted time.  There's nothing like the present.  That early bird is out there catching that worm!  And hope at times exclaims, "WE MUST ABIDE". 

 

A couple years ago, this word came to mind, then haunted me, and became something I dearly cherished.  God gave me a sense of purpose related to something, and I WAS READY to take action, or so I thought.  God asked me to abide.  This journey became one of played out patience that at times continues to this day.  

 

I'm a visual person, so sometimes something to visualize helps me to take more from the journey.  What I most relate to in my journey into abiding hope is that of when I was a child at the ocean.  My brother and I would go out into the waves and firmly plant our feet  and see who could last the longest only to endure wave after wave.  What we'd quickly find that between the tow of the current, heels sinking into the sand, and preparing for the next wave was that maintaining our ground was a fight.

 

Abiding hope is a fight.  Let me say is again, because it feels well-earned- abiding hope is a fight.  Abiding hope for me hasn't been a fight to continue to hear the whispers that are God's Calling in my life.  In many cases, the slightest whisper drives me more, so its a fight to balance those callings with the timing of God.  Abiding becomes a fight to remain  sensitive to God's Will rather than my pursuit of that Will.  It is a fight to find contentment when those holy stirrings occur in your spirit to say, "It's right around the corner".  The key is knowing when the voice says not yet and we are there. 

 

I've been pretty fearless about action.  I think many people have a fear when we have talked about abiding.  They remind me that I must act.  Maybe afraid that I've gone soft. (They should know better).  If only they knew my propensity for action.  To be bridled to His Calling is a much greater feat... at least in my spiritual walk.

 

Patience.  Contentment. The Fight. To me this is the face of abiding hope.