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Hope Day
Wednesday is often called “Hump Day” because it’s in the middle of the week. If you view the week as looking like a bell curve, Wednesday (being directly in the middle) forms the hump. However, since this is the week of Hope we’re calling this one Hope Day instead.
What is Hope?
The dictionary defines hope as “the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best”.
There are lots of different kinds of hope. There’s Biblical hope, like the kind of hope we talked about on Sunday. There’s mundane hope, like “I hope it doesn’t rain during the parade.“.
There’s desperate hope, like “I hope I get to work on time with all of this traffic back up.” but there’s another kind of hope.
Inspirational hope is not unlike Biblical hope, but it isn’t informed by Scripture. It’s more of a gut instinct. It’s a sublime yearning in the soul.
This kind of hope often responds well to Biblical hope when they are exposed to it, but even without ever entering a church or meeting an evangelist people manage to hope for a better day.
Inspirational Hope
Today, the 41st President of the United States of America, George Herbert Walker Bush, is being honored with a National Day of Mourning.
People have varied opinions of him and his terms as Vice President to Ronald Reagan and as our President. However you view him, it can’t be denied that he participated in some of the biggest events in inspirational hope of the 20th Century.
His service as a naval aviator in the Pacific theater of WWII can’t be overlooked, but his service in the White House through the waning years of the Cold War is crucial.
I’ve spoken before of the Soviets as historical Grinches, but it was more than just Christmastime that they spoiled. Communism is a soul-sucking waste of time, resources and human potential. President Reagan knew this and did his level best to put an end to this dreadful regime.
It wasn’t just the Russians who suffered from this repressive way of life. Their satellite states were under the Soviet heel at all times. Free states bordering the former Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact nations lived under the shadow of potential invasion for decades. You just never knew when the Red Army was going to pounce.
Throughout the Soviet period, citizens of many nations lived in fear of the Red Threat but they also lived in hope that this fear would be relieved. They looked to the West, and America in particular, for this relief.
The actions, policies, treaties and covert moves of the Reagan and Bush administrations saw an end to a divided Germany, a repressed Poland and ultimately the Soviet Union itself. Formerly repressed and temperamentally depressed Russians finally had something to look forward to. Freedom and economic opportunity finally took the place of systemic restraint and alcohol-induced apathy.
Hope and Confidence
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. ~Helen Keller
Hope is jet fuel for accomplishment. To have hope is to have an endpoint in mind. With your destination selected, your plan will be directed with confidence and optimism.
The world is freer and more full of opportunity than in any time in history. We have the ability to make friends of people from every corner of the globe. We can pursue our passion and make a difference in the lives of others.
This year, think not of what you can ask Santa for Christmas but of what you can ask of yourself in the New Year. Lay bold plans this holiday season. Dream magnificent dreams of how you can make the world a better place by simply being the best you that you can possibly be.
In a world full of drones, trudging around doing humdrum things that they don’t want to do, dare to be different. Buck the trend and stand out in the crowd.
I hope you’ll at least consider it.