Offaly influencer says living with hope strengthens us during difficult times in our lives

Jesus sees us, walks with us, stays with us. We are not alone. To live with hope turns times of boredom into solitude with the Lord. Hope inspires our longing for Jesus and feeds our desire for Him.

But many people are asking the question “How do I choose hope in these dark and challenging times?” There is no easy answer to this question but it needs to be explored.  We can and must believe that even in the darkest times, God’s hand will always hold and support us. It calls us to believe that even behind the darkest clouds, there is something more that will bring sunshine into our lives.

Hope is in the expecting and the waiting. We can never give up even when there is no visible sign that things will be better. Is. 43:2 tells us “When you pass through waters they will not swallow you up. When you go through rivers, they will not sweep over you.” In the power of the Holy Spirit, we are sent to reflect God’s healing, mercy and hope and forgiveness to all that we meet.

Reflecting on hope

We can all reflect on God’s plan for our own lives, our communities, nation and world, and work with others to make God’s plan a reality in our time and place.  No matter what the challenges are, nothing is impossible with the power and grace of God.  As we journey with Jesus, we all experience many life challenges. If we focus only on the problems, the result is we will intensify the pain and become engulfed in fear and doubt.

Sometimes such events can bring about transformation in our own lives and in our communities and help us to search for deeper meaning as we continue our life journey. We are reminded of the Gospel story of Peter walking on water to meet Jesus. When Peter looked down and saw only the waves, he began to sink. When he kept his eyes on Jesus, he arrived safely at his destination.

Choosing hope is the only way to go and succeed. Our hope is based on our faith in God, not a God somewhere up in the clouds but a God who is described in Matthew’s  Gospel as one who says:  “I am with you all days even to the end of the age.” This is not an avoidance of the problems. It means we must hold on to hope and ground our hope on the reliable promises of Jesus who never fails us.

Hold on to hope

No matter what has happened today, don't lose hope. Hold on to Hope as much as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. Be kind every chance you get. The ripple effect of kindness, if visible, would astound you.

What the world needs now is hope! Hope transforms you, it transforms me, and it is only as transformed hope-filled people that we will be able to bring such urgently needed hope to the world: to our own personal world of family, friends and acquaintances, but also to the world as a whole. One little drop of hope has far reaching consequences for all of humanity.

As Desmond Tutu who sadly passed away recently said, "Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” They say that a “man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope.” Hope can be the difference between success and failure. You can withstand so much if you know you have people who support you and are looking out for you. You can face just about anything, as long as you don’t lose the hope that you can succeed. Even hope and faith as tiny as a mustard seed can produce mountainous amounts of blessings. Hope is a positive and potent spiritual practice that has the power and influence to pull us through difficult times. Hope is the basic ingredient of optimism, a tendency to dwell on the best possibilities. It is often described as a metaphor such as a ray, a beam, a glimmer of hope; the break in the clouds; the light at the end of the dark tunnel. Hope can often be revealed in unexpected places or through others. 

Hope is energizing

Certain attitudes or virtues can support the development of hope in our lives. Hope can be learned with practice. One attitude or virtue that supports a deepened sense of hope in our lives is patience, an ability to tolerate set-backs, and a willingness to let events unfold in their own time.

The other is courage, an attitude of confidence even when facing the unfamiliar. A third is persistence, the determination to keep on going no matter what happens. We have hope when we can say, "everything will be ok‟, and we mean it. Without hope, we find it difficult to be patient and can be easily frustrated. We may lack the courage to continue struggling against hardship. We are often easily discouraged.

The common expression, "Hope for the best, but expect the worst" implies the worst. When we are without hope, we easily fall victim to such negativism. When the light of hope is absent, we are overcome by gloom and doom, despair and negativity. Hope gives us enthusiasm, courage and drive to continue moving forward in every situation. Each of us carries within our hearts the seeds of enduring hope. With a conscious effort and committed action, and rooted in God's love, our hopes have the power to transform our lives and the lives of others.

Hope challenges us

The virtue of hope challenges us and empowers us to be determined, resolute, intentional, purposive, and steadfast. Hope is not wishful thinking or passive waiting. It means intentional, purposeful living; and it is something we experience before the “bad stuff” happens. We live hopeful lives. Thomas Merton was one of the more influential spiritual writers of the last century.

He wrote a now-famous prayer that seems appropriate for those times when we experience the hurricanes of life and don’t know which way to turn. “My Lord, God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does, in fact, please you.

And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do that you will lead me by the right road, although I may know nothing about it. Therefore, will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me and will never leave me to face my perils alone.” Hope means to keep living amid desperation and to keep humming in the darkness.

Hoping is knowing that there is love; it is trust in tomorrow; it is falling asleep and waking again when the sun rises. In the midst of a gale at sea, it is to discover land. In the eyes of another, it is to see that you are understood... As long as there is still hope there will also be prayer... And you will be held in God's hands.

Pray for hope

We’ve all had days, weeks, months even years when life just doesn’t seem to be going our way! Sure if we look at the way our world is at the moment we could definitely say that things are not going our way! We feel at a loss, and despair for our future about what might happen to us. At times turning to different types of addiction or falling into different spiraling levels or symptoms of depression, and fear being found out or fear seeking help and support from family, friends and caring organisations. I’ve had the same fears and worries over the last few months and some long days in my own life and not just during these worrying times for our world, where I felt like nothing was working and everything seemed to end in disaster and I’ve had many painful days of desperation where I just couldn't seem to get anything finished.

I have started saying a prayer recently that you can use on the ten fingers of your hands which was kindly given to me by David, a good friend of mine who sadly passed away recently. It goes as follows, "God please keep me well with acceptance of your will." But it made me think that it is one thing to pray for God’s will to be done in your life, but it is quite another to accept His will. Many of us talk a good game, as they say in the sporting world, about wanting His will for our lives, but once it is revealed, we get scared and we run away from it. We let fear take over. Or we refuse to accept it because God’s will actually isn’t what we wanted at all. I can say all of this because I’ve been there and in many ways, I am there right now as I worry about my family, friends and colleagues about what the future may hold for us all and are we doing enough to make sure our world is in a good place for our children and for our children's children. I’ve long prayed and hoped for God’s will and purpose to be revealed in my life, but I never really took into consideration how I would respond to the revelation. I realize that not only should my prayer be, “Thy will be done” but also, “Let me accept thy will,” or to put it another way, feel the fear and do it anyway.

Pray for strength

I lit a few candles for hope, courage and strength this week and offered up my prayers for the people who asked me to pray for them or their loved one's who are in need of a prayer or a lighted candle or are looking for hope at this time in their life. I will continue to do so over the next few days for anyone that asks for a prayer for hope, strength or a lighted candle.

I would ask everyone to keep as strong as they can be. I have been at a few very sad funerals over the last few weeks which puts things into perspective about what life is all about. Let's all try to mind one another and look out for one another and try to be there for one another as much as we can during these worrying times for a lot of people and families. It's okay not to be okay at times but it's also okay to talk to someone especially if it's someone or an organisation that can help and that you trust.

As I was praying for people who asked me to pray for them recently, I also prayed for all the people that are struggling in our communities, our country and our world right now, wondering what life would be like without them, or wondering if they are loved or cared for. Let me say through this thought for the week that without you the world would not be the same and it doesn't matter who or what you are. You may not know it, but you mean something to someone and you will never know if you are not around. Every morning when I wake up I tell myself that today is a new day, a new beginning, a new dawn, a new chance, a new day with endless possibilities. And that gives me something that everyone cherishes, it brings me hope.

It can bring anyone and everyone hope, and if you hold on to hope one day all those thoughts of a better life will become a reality. I am going to try each day and I hope you will too. I am going to wake, get up, dress up and show up and give it the best I can at that time. And if you aren't going through any of this but know a friend or a family member or a colleague who is, talk to them, be with them, listen to them, guide them, help them, get help for them, show them where they can get help, be there for them, care for them and help them to show up and find that hope that you hopefully have in your life. I will have that candle of hope lighting for us all today, tonight and tomorrow and everyday that we will all find that hope we need in our lives.

I wish much hope and prayers for us all and especially for any families or friends or colleagues who are searching for a loved one who is missing, or who is unwell or is suffering in any way. Let us all say my beautiful friends David's prayer - "God keep me well with acceptance of your will" especially for those of us in those longer seasons of joblessness, sickness, financial stress, addiction, homelessness, war, abandonment, relationship strain and other ongoing life events where the stress and frustration can seem overwhelming and where hope has started to lose its flicker. I pray for strength and light a candle of hope for us all!!

Thought for the week

As your thought for the week, pray for hope for the people in your life and know that hope never abandons us. We abandon hope. Consult not your fears especially during these worrying times but consult your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do. Hope is the basis of existence and we should never give up hope.

Hope should be our true companion of all times. I want to encourage you to stay focused on the hope that is Jesus. Pray for endurance. Know the Lord has a plan. Be a reflection of hope to the world. Let them know where your hope, faith, and trust lies, sharing the light and hope of Jesus with them. Finally, hope sanctifies waiting. There is nothing passive about hope. It is not a state of inaction or wishful thinking. Hope, rooted in faith, is actively anticipating the Lord and trusting in His promises for us. Hope in the Lord is never wasted. As our summer season begins, we pray for an increase in the virtue of hope as we place our trust in the Lord.

A prayer of Hope I like to say to keep me going each day goes as follows - Dear Lord, I try so hard to be your humble servant, I come before you today in need of hope, courage and strength. There are times when I feel helpless and lost. There are times when I feel weak and addicted. I pray for hope. I need hope for a better future. I need hope for a better life. I need hope for love, care, shelter and kindness. Some say that the sky is at its darkest just before the light. I pray that this is true, for all seems very dark in my life at times. I need your light, Lord, in every way. I pray to be filled with your light from head to toe. To bask in your glory. To know that all is right in the world, as you have planned, and as you want it to be. Help me Lord to walk in your light, and live my life in faith and support to those most in need. Help me to shine my light to help others shine their light. Let us also pray for all who are recovering from illnesses of all types in hospital, nursing homes , hospices and in the family home and for families who are unable to visit loved ones especially those in ICU and High Dependency Care wards and for our nurses, doctors, carers and all on the frontline who serve us daily despite the extreme stress and anxiety they endure. Dear Lord, Our Lady and St. Joseph, we ask you to hear our prayers during these worrying times and especially for all our people who are sick or unwell with any type of illness at home or in hospital. Comfort those who are vulnerable, anxious or fearful. Protect our healthcare workers and all our frontline workers who put their lives at risk. Inspire our leaders to make good decisions and may we all act responsibly and lok and pray for peace in our world. "When my arms can't reach people close to my heart, I hug them with my prayers”. In your name I pray, Amen.